The act on promotion of women's participation and advancement in the workplace

Abstract

In April, 2016, the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace came into force in Japan. The Japanese government decided to engage in the promotion of opportunities in the workforce for women as a part of Japan's Growth Strategy, and according to one of its measures, the national government, local government, and companies of a certain size are obliged to establish and publish action plans to promote women's career activities in their workplaces. In anticipation of the Act's enforcement, many companies have been enthusiastically engaged in promoting women's recruitment and career development.

The company I work at, Taisei Corporation, is a construction company. This company has been proactively engaged in increasing career opportunities for women from about ten years prior to the enforcement of the new Act. How did a company whose main business is construction, an industry that is virtually synonymous with traditionally male occupations, come to be so engaged in the promotion of women's career activities? What kinds of specific initiatives has it pursued? What kind of results have its efforts produced, and what are its aims for the future? I hope that the cases presented here will provide some reference for other companies and the people engaged in this task who are about to embark on similar initiatives.