Japan’s male-centred, unforgiving work culture must go: Abe
Japan’s working culture is very male-centred, with salarymen under irresistible pressure to match the long hours clocked by their colleagues. This will have to change before female participation in the workforce can increase. Photo: Bloomberg
TOKYO — To overcome the challenges of an ageing population and falling birthrate, Japan needs to change its male-dominated workplace culture to be more pro-family, said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose government yesterday passed a new Bill to encourage the hiring and promotion of women in the private sector.
“The greatest challenge facing Japan is our declining population, brought about by our ageing society and falling birthrate,” said Mr Abe in his opening address at the second World Assembly for Women in Tokyo yesterday afternoon.
He noted that in the past, a higher rate of female labour force participation was the cause of a lower birth rate. But today, many developed nations, particularly those in northern Europe, have a high level of women participating in the workforce as well as a high birth rate.
“Japan also wants to emulate this, but our greatest barrier is a working culture that endorses male-centred long working hours,” he said, referring to the country’s unforgiving work culture, where male salarymen are under irresistible pressure to match the long hours clocked by colleagues, even if the extra hours do not lead to higher productivity.
“If men themselves do not awaken to this fact and take action, we will not be able to eliminate this bad practice,” added Mr Abe, whose administration has been pushing for a more efficient and family-oriented corporate culture.
That, however, will not be enough if Japanese companies do not provide a work environment where it is easy for employees to take childcare leave and for women to take on leadership positions, he said.
“Husbands must also actively take childcare leave and couples share responsibility for household chores and child rearing. We will make this the ordinary practice in Japan,” he added.