Women account for record 41.9% of Japan central government employees

TOKYO — Women accounted for a record 41.9 percent of central government employees hired on April 1, up 1.5 percentage points from the previous year, the Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs said Friday.

The hiring rate, highest since figures based on the current standard were first released in 2005, surpassed 40 percent for the second straight year. Women filled 38.2 percent of career-track positions, up 1.4 points, also hitting a record high.

The cabinet in March approved the sixth basic plan for gender equality that included the goal of increasing the rate of female national public servants to 40 percent or more, as well as a target of 40 percent for career-track positions by fiscal 2030.

Of the 9,268 total recruits as of April 1, women numbered 3,885, according to the bureau. Women held 339 out of the 887 career-track positions.

Among ministries that hired more than 100 people, the Foreign Ministry had the highest rate at 58.1 percent, followed by the Justice Ministry at 52.9, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare at 50.7, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry at 46.2.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism had the lowest rate at 29.5 percent.

A bureau official said, "The government's support for balancing work and child care as well as its improvement of workplace environments through work style reform brought about the results."

© KYODO