Japan And Women: Updated on March 16, 2024.

 

Japan 3rd-worst work environment for women of 29 OECD states: The Economist

Article Source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240308/p2a/00m/0na/033000c#cxrecs_s

Ideas:

Its unfortunate that Japan is so low, but the US is not much better ranked 22nd. The problem with Japan is not it has a labor shortage but maybe if Japan used is women resources better, it might be able to minimize some of the labor shortages.

Why does Japan has such a low ranking? For decades women were not considered managerial candidates, and for a long time were expected to leave a company when they got married.

But this is a different century and Japanese women are not that interested in getting married, but prefer to focus a career,

But the Japanese corporate world and the world of Japanese politics haven't kept up with what women want out of careers.

Japan is really not that much better than South Korea, which has one of the largest variances between men's salaries in companies and women's salaries in companies.

It seems the Japan corporate world just doesn't want women in managerial positions, and or Japanese women, don't want them or don't feel comfortable in an all men workplace with no women in the company or in other managerial positions.

The Japanese company work environment might be challenging for women, especially working women with children, who might want or need a more flexible work style, but many companies might look down on providing flexible work schedules.

There area some companies have have promoted women into managerial and corporate CEO positions, such as Japan Airlines, which just promoted a long time women employee as company CEO. 

But most Japanese companies are just too entrenched in how they do things and don't even think or consider hiring women into many managerial positions.

Maybe the mindset of Japanese society needs to change. For example, society maybe at one time expected Japanese women to quit their jobs with companies when they got married, and maybe companies were unwilling to take a chance on putting women into managerial tracks, when they knew women would quit the job once they got married.

And or also, maybe many Japanese women don't pursue managerial type jobs due to the fact, that at one time, they knew they would quit once they got married, so why bother with a managerial type job.

But, again, this is supposed to be a different era and women today are not the same as their stay at home mothers or mothers who worked for a company it clerk position, only to leave, as expected, when they got married.

But it seems South Korea and Japan have not entered the 21first century in terms of equal pay for women and or access to managerial positions, being two of the lowest in the OECD.

Is Japan and South Korea making any progress? It doesn't look like it but of course there are now many more women in managerial positions than before and salaries have improved but both countries, like the US too, still have a long way to go to reach the Nordic countries rankings.

Have a nice day and be safe