HRO Today APAC Spring 2020 - 10

Diversity & Inclusion
" Domestic childcare is completely a mother's problem, "
explains Global Staff CEO Kazumi Takahashi, and finding
childcare support can be particularly challenging.
The trend is so pronounced that there's a Japanese
economics term for it: the " M Curve. " Plot women's
labour force participation versus age, and the graph,
which resembles a letter M, shows women leaving the
workforce to marry and have children in their twenties
and thirties, and then re-entering in their forties.
That re-entry, though, can be difficult.
" Japanese companies have a strong culture of recruiting
new graduates and are very reluctant to hire women
with 'career blanks,' " says Waris Co-CEO Miwa Tanaka,
using a term that is common in Japan to describe people
who have stepped out of the workforce. On top of that,
" Women with career blanks are not confident, so it is
difficult to take a step towards reemployment. "
Even when women do re-enter the workforce, they are
still largely responsible for maintaining the home and
raising children. Each week, Japanese women spend five
to seven times longer doing domestic work than their
husbands, according to Japan's National Institute of
Population and Social Security Research.
" Time management-juggling full-time work, childcare,
and other housework-is a challenge. This is particularly
pronounced when husbands are not supportive, " notes
Nobuko Kobayashi, a partner at EY-Parthenon in Tokyo.
" It is a very difficult skill in Japanese society to achieve
a balance between being a 'mother' and 'working
woman,' " says Career Mam Founder and CEO Kanae
THREE COMPANIES, THREE APPROACHES
The recruitment industry in Japan is increasingly catering towards working mothers in an effort to engage women
in the workforce and decrease the gender pay gap. Here are three organisations working to make an impact.
Career Mam
www.c-mam.co.jp
Catering to women who want to
work from home, Career Mam
provides seminars and mentoring
throughout Japan, outsourcing
solutions to companies, and
operates a co-working space with
daycare facilities.
" It's been more than 20 years
since I founded Career Mam,
but honestly, I don't think
Japanese society has changed
significantly, " says Founder and
CEO Kanae Tsutsumi. Laws may
have been amended, she says,
but mindsets have not.
A former freelancer herself,
Tsutsumi argues that " selfemployed
people are freer " in
the face of unfairness. But, she
adds, " Many mothers seem to
neglect improving their skills,
using the excuse that they have
no time due to housework and
raising children. "
[10]
HRO TODAY APAC
| SPRING 2020
Global Staff
www.global-staff.co.jp
Situated in the central Japanese
manufacturing and shipping
hub of Nagoya, Global Staff
dispatches a wide range of
female office workers, from
accountants to web designers.
The company's founder, Kazumi
Takahashi, grew up believing
that a professional career was
not a choice for women. Now,
she works to break stereotypes.
Global Staff regularly holds
roundtables to discuss
housewives' careers, work
styles, and lifestyles.
Waris
waris.co.jp
Launched in 2013, Waris
connects women with
employers via " returnships. "
Companies participating
in the " Waris Work Again "
programme include Japan
Airlines, cigarette manufacturer
JT, and software firm Cybozu.
" We have very talented women
in our database. Over 60 per
cent are college graduates.
More than half have an
employment gap of at least five
years, " explains Miwa Tanaka.
The vast majority, she says,
find employment once their
internship is completed.
Waris also matches freelancers
who have professional skill
sets in areas like HR, finance,
marketing, and public
relations with firms that offer
flexible work schedules and a
supportive environment.

http://www.c-mam.co.jp http://www.global-staff.co.jp http://waris.co.jp

HRO Today APAC Spring 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of HRO Today APAC Spring 2020