Japan companies lag far behind women empowerment in management roles

Jun 18, 2021 | News On Japan

Jun 18, 2021 (channelnewsasia.com) - Women make up less than 10 per cent of the management in most Japanese companies, as the country's corporate sector finds it difficult to meet the business lobby's aim of boosting the number of female executives in an ageing society, a Reuters poll showed.

The survey results underscored Japan's struggle to raise the share of women in leadership roles to 30 per cent as part of the biggest business lobby Keidanren's campaign to empower women, dubbed "womenomics".

Japan's global ranking on gender parity stood at 121 of 153 countries in a World Economic Forum report for 2020.

The Reuters Corporate Survey, conducted during Jun 3-14, found that more than 80 per cent of Japanese companies said women make up less than 10 per cent of management - results similar to the previous surveys conducted last year and in 2018.

According to the survey, 86 per cent of the survey respondents said it was impossible to achieve the target by 2030.

The survey, conducted for Reuters by Nikkei Research, canvassed 481 large- and mid-size non-financial firms. About 230 firms answered the questions on condition of anonymity.

The survey also found that 36 per cent of Japanese firms expect coronavirus-led impact on supply and demand likely to cease in several months, but 32 per cent saw no signs of improvement from the pandemic fallout. About 18 per cent saw it ceasing now and 9 per cent said they had no impact.

The poll results were similar to a previous survey conducted in March.

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