The majority of people in the country’s workforce disagree with Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg’s comments that corporate culture has become subdued and needs more “masculine energy”.

A total of 55pc of professionals said they disagreed and believed corporate culture had evolved for the better, according to a survey by recruitment firm Robert Walters.

But 45pc agree with his remarks, which indicates a significant divide in opinion when it comes to what makes a good workplace culture.

The survey of 1,000 Irish professionals also reveals that half of Irish women believe there is a shortage of inspiring females at work. A total of 22pc said they had no examples, while 30pc said they hardly ever encountered them.

Suzanne Feeney, country manager at Robert Walters Ireland, welcomed greater gender pay gap reporting but said more diverse voices needed to be heard in senior leadership.

“Further hampering this”, she said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sparked controversy for his comments on corporate culture becoming neutered and needing more masculine energy on a Joe Rogan podcast in January.

Ms Feeney said the comments symbolised a growing rift in many workplaces.

“Zuckerberg’s comments touch on an important discussion around the direction of workplace culture,” she said.

“However, making associations with male and female energies creates an ‘us versus them’ attitude rather than resulting in any meaningful improvements being made.”

Meanwhile, the survey showed that 52pc of female professionals feel there is a lack of representative figures in the workplace. A total of 38pc do not feel their hard work is recognised as much as their male peers. A third said there is inadequate support and opportunity for progression.

Some 43pc of women felt personal development programmes would help them advance.

Ms Feeney said visibility issues persisted and while companies were implementing strategies, they needed to ensure women’s advancement was supported at every career stage.

“Personal development plans should be designed to address the specific challenges faced by women at work,” she said. “Aspects like providing flexible work options for caregiving responsibilities, setting realistic and achievable targets as well as providing women experiencing menopause leave options that don’t jeopardise their career growth.”

Recent research by Grant Thornton found that one in seven Irish firms have no women in their senior management team, an increase of almost five percentage points since last year.

Ireland ranked sixth-worst of 31 countries surveyed worldwide for businesses with no women in senior management.