Govt Announces Target of Making 30% of Execs at Major Firms Women by 2030

REUTERS/Yuya Shino
A visitor wearing a mask is seen behind a logo of Japan Stock Exchange (JPX) at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo December 15, 2014.

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The government on Tuesday announced a target of having women account for 30% or more of board members at companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime Section.

The goal is part of a set of measures that should be taken intensively to promote the empowerment of women and gender equality.

The package, adopted at a joint meeting of relevant government panels the same day, also includes a target for Prime-listed companies to have at least one female executive by 2025.

It urges them to draw up action plans to realize both targets.

“It’s important to create an environment allowing women to feel that they can aim to become a leader,” the package said, stressing that the major companies should present various role models for female employees.

It also calls for expanding the scope of the information disclosure system on the wage gap between men and women and giving more subsidies to companies working on converting nonregular employees to regular employees.

The series of measures will be reflected in the government’s key economic and fiscal policy guidelines to be adopted Friday.

“We’ll work to realize a sustainable society in which all people find their lives worth living and diversity is respected,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at the meeting.