According to a World Economic Forum report, Japan has the largest gender gap in East Asia and Pacific, with women unrepresented in the workforce.
A recent survey has shown that more than 70% of Japanese companies are currently not implementing working from home for their employees.
The government hopes that the move will help foster greater diversity in the country’s work practices and encourage talent to move into growth areas.
The move, expected to speed up the recruitment process, comes as the government has designated June 1 as the start of the job hunting season.
There is a large gap between the length of paternal leave employers think is appropriate and that which male employees want to take.
The Cabinet has approved the first annual fiscal and economic policy blueprint that pledges aggressive investment in human resources.
The government will draw up a five-year plan by the end of this year to support startups and increase investments for their promotion by 10 times.
Companies will not have to publish how much their workers earn, only the difference in wages between male and female workers.
The government plans to offer workers relearning opportunities and new jobs, based on measures worth ¥400 billion over three years.
The government has initiated a plan to establish an organisation to serve as the national central body for regional gender equality centres.
Measures being considered to support the budget include companies and workers paying premiums to a child insurance system.
The most common reason new graduates gave for leaving a job within three years was that the “job was not a good match” (40.1%), according to a survey.
A survey, which covered 81 firms with 500 or more workers, found that 26 of the firms had their earnings returned to pre-pandemic levels.
The new regulation, expected to be mandatory from April next year, will affect some 4,000 listed businesses in the country.
SMEs have now indicated a willingness to accept the government’s decision on minimum wage increases due to a serious labour shortage and rising prices.
A number of Japanese companies are granting its workers flexible work options in a bid to attract and retain talent.
More Japanese companies are offering a four-day workweek so that their employees can have a better work-life balance.
Compared to a month earlier, the number of workers rose by 180,000 in March, while workers who were unemployed fell by 90,000 over the same month.
The ballooning cost to provide allowances for employees who take parental leave is causing fears of a fund shortage.
The government will soon initiate discussions on expanding the coverage of employee pensions and health insurance programmes to all workers.
Out of the 117 businesses surveyed by Kyodo News, 49 firms said that they will hire more fresh graduates starting next April.
Hitachi employees now have more flexibility to change and organise their schedules to work only four days a week.
Subramanian Ananthapadmanabhan has been appointed as Senior Vice President and Head of Midmarket, APJ.
The Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) has proposed the review of laws that would promote digitisation for organisations across the country.
All companies must inform their employees of the paternity leave system, and confirm with to-be fathers whether they want to take the leave.
About 37% of freelance workers surveyed expect their incomes to be lower than before the pandemic going forward.
The job availability ratio in February rose slightly to 1.21 from 1.20 in January, marking the second straight month of improvement.
As part of efforts to reduce gender inequality, the government is also considering having firms disclose the ratio of male workers on childcare leave.
The prime minister had previously called for a wider distribution of wealth, and urged companies to increase wages of their workers by 3% or more.
The central government will no longer require companies to identify employees who have had close contacts with coronavirus patients.
