TOKYO REPORT: Japan Inc. Support for Women Growing

August 13, 2018

Tokyo- Programs to support women's participation in the labor force are expanding in Japan Inc., nearly three years after the effectuation of a new law aimed at promoting the role of women in the workforce.

The law to facilitate the creation of workplaces friendly to women partially took effect in September 2015 and came into full force in April 2016. Under the law, large companies with more than 300 employees are required to set numerical targets and adopt action plans for the employment of women and their promotion to managerial positions.

According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, such targets and plans have been worked out and submitted effectively by all big companies, as defined by the law.

Although the requirement does not apply to companies employing fewer than 300 workers, some 4,600 small businesses had submitted plans to the ministry as of the end of March 31. Of them, about 130 have been certified as especially positive on the employment and promotion of women.

Such companies are granted "L boshi" (L star) certification, with L standing for lady and labor. The certification is intended to suggest that women are shining in the workplace.

The certification is "greatly effective" in improving corporate image, because certified companies are allowed to mention it in their job-opening information at HelloWork employment security offices, a labor ministry official said.

In December 2017, the ministry opened a smartphone site that provides job-hunting students with information on companies that are proactive about the employment and promotion of female workers as part of its efforts to create environments that make such firms popular among job seekers.

"The creation of workplaces that empower women is the very first step toward work style reforms" promoted by the government, said Yusuke Hirai of Tohmatsu Innovation Co., a provider of consulting and educational services for the development of human resources at small and midsize companies.

But in a Tohmatsu Innovation survey, only 1.5 pct of some 600 managerial or personnel affairs workers at smaller companies said they have done enough to empower women and generated favorable results.

In fact, headway has been made with institutional approaches to balance work and family life, such as the introduction of child-rearing leave, but smaller companies have yet to gain full understanding of the importance of women's greater participation in the labor force, Hirai said. They need "mindset reforms," he added.

Software Service Corp., a Tokyo-based midsize information technology company with a workforce of 240, has achieved such reforms through companywide efforts. When the law for the promotion of women took effect, Software Service established an in-house panel headed by a midcareer female employee, in order to become friendly to women in the true sense of the term.

The panel collected answers to a questionnaire from all employees to locate specific problems related to the empowerment of women and conducted events such as a debate session among employees.

The panel's efforts "raised companywide interest in the issue and increased the number of women employees willing to work more actively," said Mai Sudo, who headed the team.

A variety of work improvement proposals to the panel resulted in "work style reforms in the whole workplace," Sudo said. Jiji Press