Japan’s Mothers Go Back to Work, but Find the Opportunities Lacking

Visits: 7

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also made the inclusion of women in the workplace part of his campaign to revive Japan’s long-stagnant economy. He has promised better access to child care, and Parliament has introduced legislation that would require large companies to publicly state their goals for hiring women.

“A lot of companies are desperate for workers,” said Ichiro Masumura, president of BStyle, an employment agency based in Tokyo that specializes in placing female workers in jobs, including through its website, “shufu-job.jp,” which translates to housewife-job.

Advocates for women, however, contend that more needs to be done. Tougher laws that promote gender equality in the workplace are necessary, they argue, and better training is required to sensitize male executives to the needs of their female staff members.

As of now, progress is coming on a smaller scale.

Isana Ishitani, who founded Isana.net in 2001, had never considered hiring housewives. But as the company grew, there were important tasks that were best suited to part-time workers. Watching his sister-in-law get pushed out of a software company after having a child also heightened his awareness of the trials faced by working mothers.

“That gave me an idea of what is happening in the work environment and culture in Japan,” Mr. Ishitani said. “I thought that was a very good opportunity for a midsize company like us to hire people.”

Asked about Ms. Otsuzuki’s early experiences at Isana.net, Mr. Ishitani said that when he started hiring part-time workers, he did not want to distinguish between their roles and responsibilities and those of the company’s full-time staff members. But he acknowledged that because Japanese workers often see part-time work as suited only for menial or mechanical tasks, “our idea was not fully understood by our team initially.”

“But I believe now they do,” he added.

Since hiring Ms. Otsuzuki, Isana.net has built a team of eight mothers who work part time — out of about 45 workers in total. Ms. Otsuzuki’s status has improved, too. This year, she received a promotion and a pay raise that nearly doubled her hourly income. Even though she still works part time, she also gets the same benefits as a full-time employee.

Go to Source