Okabayashi Kazumi, an employee of Toto Ltd., leaves her office in Kitakyushu earlier than her co-workers.
Okabayashi is working under the company’s program that allows reduced working hours for employees so that they can take care of their children
It's the Year of the Dragon and time to face our fears. But Japanese men, it seems, are already faced with plenty. An unemployment "man-cession" could be in the making as recession threatens and the weak economy limps onward. In a new twist on the employment gender gap, Japanese women are now gaining more jobs than men -- but at lower salaries.
Male-dominated industries such as manufacturing and construction are shrinking as Japan moves from "monozukuri," or making things, to services such as nursing and health care where female employment has been steadily increasing.
The health-care industry, called the "future of Japan," is now 74 percent female, and will increase its workforce 32 percent from 2010 to 2020. Jobs catering to the country's 29 million seniors over 64 will remain female focused. Women employees are also the gender of choice for the growing education, research, restaurant and real estate sectors.
Companies like Resona Holdings Inc. are also aiming to hire more women, but at higher paying managerial and executive levels. A research group survey found that some 74 percent of highly qualified women in Japan voluntarily quit their jobs compared to 31 percent in the U.S. and 35 percent in Germany. Childcare is often cited as the reason. Resona wants to keep smart, hard-working women on their payroll as they climb the company ladder along with maternity leave and time for childcare needs.
This new employment trend, though, is producing a "Catch- 22" of new social trends, for both men and women -- a cycle of co-dependent good and bad results. One example is marriage, now trending on the back burner. With money to spend, women are enjoying the freedoms of single life. As the new family breadwinner, they're spending less. This means fewer consumers spending, making it harder for the world's third-largest economy to pull out of its decade of deflation. For many men, marriage means supporting a family. Without a job, their marriage prospects are slim.
For both, delaying marriage means delaying starting a family, a sure formula for worsening Japan's falling birthrate. More babies -- more people -- are needed to support Japan's burgeoning social security costs as the population goes grayer.
Even having a boyfriend or girlfriend is not necessarily a priority. A poll last June by the National Institute of Population and Social Security revealed that 61.4 percent -- a record high -- of unmarried men between 18 and 34 had no girlfriend. This is 9.2 percentage points higher than the poll taken in 2005. A record high also applied to women: 49.5 percent had no boyfriend, up 4.8 percentage points.
Despite the exorbitant recovery costs, the March 11 disasters will hopefully offer a needed economic boost. Jobs in the construction industry are expected to increase. Will this reverse the man-cession? Japan could certainly use a confidence-building "he-covery." (By Lucy Birmingham)
Adapted from:
Mainichi Japan
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Teacher Ackie