Career Woman - "Women Friendly"

"Women Friendly"

In the 21st century, though women still face some degrees of discrimination in the Japanese job market, there have been a number of companies that both foster women's equality and reward them on a talent based system. New fields, such as banking, journalism, insurance sales, and advertising; companies in the information industry, are very appealing to women, because they reward them based on individual ability. These companies are also keen to rotate workers out every two or three years, giving women the opportunity to explore a number of different departments without job hopping, fostering trust in the company and versatility in the women workers. Aside from the information industry, several foreign companies have taken an interest in Japan. The companies provide Japanese women, who have some foreign language proficiency, work in challenging fields with pay comparable to their male counterparts. Women also have a better chance of promotion to managerial positions in foreign companies and are hired based on their skills, rather than potential abilities that can be mastered through on the job training, as is popular with Japanese firms. These alternatives may often lack the job security that can be found at large Japanese companies, but they reward women based on talent rather than seniority, provide better chances for promotion, and offer a greater challenge to working women. While there are still some steps necessary in making total equality a reality in Japan, working women today are a necessary part of the Japanese work force and a driving power for change in the country.