Paper short abstract:

The Kishida administration is trying to encourage companies to adopt "new" Japanese-style wage practices on job evaluation in order to facilitate labor mobility. This presentation will examine whether this wage practice increases the number of women in management positions.

Paper long abstract:

The Kishida administration is trying to encourage companies to adopt "new" Japanese-style wage practices on job evaluation in order to facilitate labor mobility. The aim is to "revamp the seniority-based salary system to a job-based salary system," which will make it easier to reflect specialized skills in salaries and facilitate labor mobility, leading to higher productivity and higher wages for all Japanese. In Japan, Job-based pay is understood to emphasize the expertise and difficulty of individual jobs, and differs from job performance pay, which evaluates age, length of service, and ability to perform the job. This presentation will examine whether this wage practice increases the number of women in management positions.

At first, we would like to consider why there are so few female managers in the chain store industry, which has a high percentage of non-regular employees and a high percentage of female employees. This is because the small number of full-time employees in this industry are often required to relocate frequently, work long hours, and work shifts that include nighttime hours, making it difficult for full-time employees to maintain work-life balance. In such a situation, promotion to managerial positions practically requires "the ability to relocate" and "the ability to work long hours and flexible working hours," and tends to place more emphasis on "work style" than on job duties. This study will clarify the reality of this working style through interviews with a few female store managers in the chain store industry.

Second, we will clarify the meaning of the "new" Japanese-style wage practice as described by the PM Kishida and examine what will change with its introduction and whether it will promote the promotion of women to managerial positions, based on a case study of the chain store industry.