As this rather scathing article by Jeff Kingston (Professor at Temple University Japan) points out, it has not been a great end to 2015 for Japanese feminism. Not only has the Japanese Supreme Court refused to strike down the law requiring married couples to adopt one surname (which usually, although not always, means a married woman is forced to take her husband’s surname), but Prime Minister Abe has substantially revised downwards the 30% by 2020 targets for the number of women in management, to 15% for the private sector and 7% for the state sector.
To be frank, the 30% target was always one of those stretch goals Japanese organisations like to set themselves. Everyone knows there is no realistic chance of getting there, but the hope is that it pushes everyone to make the maximum effort, rather than relax if the target is too easy. As we have repeatedly said, the biggest obstacle has always been the lack of an internal pipeline of women in the traditional larger Japanese organisation. A possible solution would be to hire from outside (which would mean targeting older women working for smaller companies, foreign companies or indeed foreigners) or find ways to bring former female employees who are housewives or part timers back into line management.
Either way, this is requires a much wider understanding of what a diverse workplace might need than simply trying to be more “family friendly”.
I continue to be optimistic, partly because I still have faith in Japanese companies to do the right thing. And from April 2016, a law requiring larger companies to report the targets and ratios of women employees and women in management will be in force. The cheerleading should continue, and Toyo Keizai magazine is continuing to wave its pom poms, with another ranking, this time of the top companies where women managers have most increased in numbers.
Edited highlights, focusing on our Top 30 Japanese companies in Europe and other clients include:
Biggest growth in women managers in past 5 years:
- Astellas at #5
- NYK #8
- Daiwa Securities #12
- Nissan #17
- Fujifilm Holdings #21
- Suntory Holdings #25
- NEC #30
- Takeda #32
- Sony #38
- NTT Data #38
- Fujitsu #42
- Kao #48
- Hitachi Ltd #48
Most women managers in 2015
- Fujitsu #2
- NEC #3
- NTT #4
- Hitachi Ltd #5
- Toshiba #7
- Nissan #11
- MUFG #12
- Sony #25
- NTT Data #32
- Mizuho #35
- Suntory #36
- Kao #41
- Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings #50
The above are in terms of absolute numbers – as a proportion, many of our Top 30 in Europe drop out of the rankings and others reappear:
- Astellas #26
- Daiwa Securities #29
- Nissan #36
- SMBC Nikko #38
- Chugai Pharma #41
- Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group #46
- Suntory Holdings #46
- Sony #48
- Kao #49
The companies that appear in all three rankings are Nissan, Suntory, Sony and Kao.
For more content like this, subscribe to the free Rudlin Consulting Newsletter. 最新の在欧日系企業の状況については無料の月刊Rudlin Consulting ニューズレターにご登録ください。
