Japan sets 30% target for women execs at big firms by 2030

Japan’s prime minister ordered his government on Thursday to begin work on increasing the number of women executives in major companies to 30 per cent or more by 2030.

Women represented only 11.4 per cent of executives in major listed companies in Japan in 2022, according to a cabinet office survey, although the figure has been rising in recent years.

“We seek to have the ratio of women among executives at 30 per cent or more by 2030 in companies that are listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime Market,” Fumio Kishida told officials at a meeting on gender equality.

The Prime Market is the stock exchange’s leading sector.

Kishida said ensuring diversity would boost innovation as well as the economy. The meeting also discussed how to offer more permanent jobs to women, many of whom are part-time workers as they try to balance childcare and employment.