【働く女性のエンパワーメント】サプライチェーンにおけるジェンダー平等の取り組み

前回の記事では、労働組合のジェンダー平等を実現する取り組みをご紹介しました。

今回は、サプライチェーンにおけるジェンダー平等の取り組みをご紹介します。

日本でのサプライチェーンにおけるサスティナビリティの取組み

経済産業省は、２０２１年７月１２日、繊維産業についての人権侵害の回避や環境問題への対応強化の指針策定などの提言を盛り込んだサスティナビリティに関する報告書を公表しました*1。

報告書は、繊維産業のサスティナビリティに係る現状と今後の取組を、「環境配慮」、「責任あるサプライチェーン管理」、「ジェンダー平等」、「供給構造」、「デジタル化の促進」の５つに分類しました。報告書では、「ジェンダー平等」について、⽣産⼯場に従事している⼥性割合は５８．５％、アパレル・⼩売に従事している⼥性割合は７２．６％となっており（全就業者における⼥性割合が４４．５％）、繊維産業における⼥性就業者割合は全業種よりも⾼い反面、繊維関連企業の⼥性役員割合は４．３％であり（東証⼀部上場企業全体は６．０％）、全体平均よりも低いことが指摘されています。

その背景として、報告書では、「ロールモデルがいない、キャリアアップの仕組みが構築されてない、パタンナーやデザイナー等の専⾨職は⼥性で、経営者や商品開発から販売戦略までを⾏うマーチャンダイザーは男性がするべきといったアンコンシャス・バイアスの存在、⼥性に家事・育児・介護の負担が偏っている等があると考えられる。また、⼥性はマネジメントの経験が乏しく、昇進に対する不安があるとの指摘がある。」と記載されています。

報告書は、「世界的にジェンダー平等が求められている中、繊維産業においては、⼥性が働きやすい環境整備や⼥性のキャリア⽀援といった課題があり、官⺠で連携して取り組んでいくことが重要である。」と指摘しました。

ＩＬＯと産業界の連携によるサプライチェーンガイドラインの策定

報告書は、「企業がデュー・ディリジェンスを実施し、責任あるサプライチェーン管理を進めることにより、労働者の権利が保障され、⼗分な収⼊を⽣み出し、適切な社会的保護が与えられる⽣産的な仕事（ディーセント・ワーク）へとつながり得る。」としました。そして、「業界団体において、幅広い労働問題に取り組む国際労働機関（ILO）を始めとした国際機関とも連携しつつ、 企業がよりデュー・ディリジェンスに取り組みやすくするためのガイドライン策定などを促していくべきではないか」として、日本の繊維産業とＩＬＯとの連携が提案されました*2。

報告書を受けて、繊維産業の横断的な団体である繊維産業連盟は、ＩＬＯ駐日事務所と連携して、２０２２年までに企業がサプライチェーンのデューデリジェンスに取り組む上でのガイドラインの策定を目指しています*3 。

ＩＬＯ駐日事務所は、電子情報技術産業協会（JEITA）の「責任ある企業行動ガイドライン」（２０２０年３月発刊）の策定にあたっても技術協力を行っているところ、今後、繊維産業に限らず、産業界から支援要請があれば、その意向を十分確認した上で、協力していく考えが示されました。

ＩＬＯ駐日事務所は、ＩＬＯ多国籍企業宣言などを踏まえて、「人権デュー・ディリジェンスとステークホルダーエンゲージメントを相互補完的に実施することが、重要であり、サプライチェーン全体を通じたディーセント・ワークの促進にとって不可欠と認識しています。」としています。

ＩＬＯ「サプライチェーン（供給網）における男女平等のための政策／ポリシー及び実際の活動」について

企業は、今後、女性活躍推進に向けてどのような取組みをすればよいのでしょうか。ILO（国際労働機関）などによる「Ｇ７諸国における責任ある企業行動を通じた働く女性の経済的エンパワーメントの促進」（２０１７年９月１日～２０２０年１２月３１日）プロジェクトが参考になります。このプロジェクトでは、女性はイノベーション（革新的取り組み）、成長、雇用のカギを握る推進要素であり、女性がより有意義に経済に参加できる環境形成において民間セクターが決定的に重要な役割を演じているとの理解のもと、女性が仕事の世界で直面しているジェンダー不平等の解消に関して、民間セクターの関与の促進を目標の一つとしています*4。

今回は、サプライチェーンにおける男女平等の好事例集である「Policies and practices for gender equality in supply chains（サプライチェーン（供給網）における男女平等のための政策／ポリシー及び実際の活動）」で紹介された日本企業の取組みをご紹介致します。

セイコーエプソン株式会社の取組み

　好事例集によれば、セイコーエプソン株式会社（以下「エプソン社」といいます。）は、UNGC（国連グローバル・コンパクト）に署名し、SDGｓに取り組んでおり、女性に対する暴力の排除（SDGｓ５．２）についての行動原則を制定し、行動原則には非人道的な取扱いや差別の防止の規定が含まれるとのことです。

また、エプソン社では、取引先のコンプライアンスリスクについて、ローリスク、ミドルリスク、ハイリスクの３つにランクで評価しており、ハイリスクの企業は、改善措置を取らなければならないと記載されています。２０１６年、直接または一次サプライヤーの８％がハイリスクとされましたが、２０１８年には５％までに減少したと記載されています。また、経営層、管理職を対象とするパワーハラスメント防止研修の実施に加えて、全社員を対象とするハラスメント基礎教育を行っていることが記載されています。パワーハラスメント防止研修への出席を要請されたすべての管理職は、２０１５年、関連する訓練研修を受講したほか、海外の管理職は２０１８年にオンライン研修に参加したと記載されています。さらに、２０１６年の初開催から４５００人を超えるエプソン社の労働者がアンガーマネジメント研修を受講したことが記載されています。

サプライチェーンにおけるジェンダー平等の推進

　このように、サプライチェーンにおけるジェンダー平等の推進に先んじて取り組んでいた日本企業が存在します。好事例集で紹介されている日本企業はほんの一例であり、他にも素晴らしい取組みを行っている企業は少なくありません。また、好事例集には、素晴らしい取組みを行っている世界各国の企業が多数紹介されています。

　好事例集を参照していただき、あなたの会社のサプライチェーンでもジェンダー平等の推進を進めてみませんか？

*1:「繊維産業のサステナビリティに関する検討会 報告書」経済産業省・製造産業局⽣活製品課（2021年7月）https://www.meti.go.jp/shingikai/mono_info_service/textile_industry/20210712_report.html

*2:「経済産業省、日本の繊維産業に関する政策提言においてILOとの連携を提案」（ＩＬＯ駐日事務所、２０２１年７月１４日） 2021/07/1https://www.ilo.org/tokyo/information/pr/WCMS_814022/lang--ja/index.htm

*3:「繊維産業の「人権」調査指針　官民、ウイグル問題念頭に」（日本経済新聞　２０２１年７月１１日）https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUA099C30Z00C21A7000000/?unlock=1

*4:「Ｇ７諸国における責任ある企業行動を通じた働く女性の経済的エンパワーメントの促進」https://www.ilo.org/tokyo/ilo-japan/partnerships-with-japan/WCMS_773304/lang--ja/index.htm　(2021年7月6日)

【働く女性のエンパワーメント】労働組合の取り組み

前回の記事では、日本企業のジェンダー平等を実現する取り組みを事例集から抜粋し、ご紹介しました。

今回は、日本労働組合総連合会の取組みをご紹介します。

女性に集中するコロナ禍の影響

「労働力調査（基本集計）２０２０年度（令和２年度）平均」（総務省・２０２１年４月３０日発表）によれば、２０２０年度の就業者数は６６６４万人で、９年ぶりに減少しました。非正規雇用の女性労働者は前年度から６５万人減少して１４０７万人とされています*1。
新型コロナウイルス禍の影響は、女性労働者に集中しているようです。非正規雇用の女性が真っ先に雇用調整の対象になったことで、ジェンダー平等に向けた日本社会の取組みが道半ばであることが改めて明らかになりました。

ILOの組合好事例集について

ILO（国際労働機関）などによる「Ｇ７諸国における責任ある企業行動を通じた働く女性の経済的エンパワーメントの促進」（２０１７年９月１日～２０２０年１２月３１日）プロジェクトでは、前回ご紹介した企業の好事例集のほかにも、「Trade union policies and practices for gender equality（男女平等のための労働組合のポリシー及び実際の活動）」（日本語版準備中）を公表しています。
このプロジェクトは、Ｇ７諸国の官民両部門で女性の経済的エンパワーメントを促進することによって持続可能で包摂的かつ公平な経済成長を支えることを目的としています。また、複数利害関係者（政府、使用者、労働者等）の対話によって、Ｇ７諸国全体を通じて女性の経済的エンパワーメントが進むことが期待されています。
また、政労使の三者構成をとっているILOは、社会問題等に関する国内政策の策定や実行において労働組合と使用者の「社会対話」を推進し、三者構成主義を奨励しています。
このように、政府、使用者（企業）のみならず、労働組合も主体となってジェンダー平等の実現をより一層実現していく必要があります。

連合の指導的地位の女性割合向上の取組み

「Trade union policies and practices for gender equality（男女平等のための労働組合のポリシー及び実際の活動）」では、日本労働組合総連合会の取組みが紹介されています。
連合は、２０２０年から２０２１年のスローガンを「私たちが未来を変える～安心社会に向けて～」として、ジェンダー、年齢、国籍、障がいの有無、雇用形態にかかわらず、多様性を受容し相互に助け合う職場とより広い社会の促進を目指しています。
また、連合のジェンダー平等参画推進計画は、２０１３年に開始されました。役員及び機関会議の女性参画率を２０２０年９月までに３０％にするとの数値目標を掲げて、ジェンダー平等参画推進に取り組んでいます。さらに、２０２４年９月末までに執行機関への組合員比率に応じた女性の参画機会を確保することを目標にしています*2。

社会全体でジェンダー平等をより一層推進するために

女性の活躍で経済発展を推進する「女性活躍推進法」が2015年2月に成立し、管理職に占める女性の割合を2020年に30％程度にすることをめざしましたが、達成できなかったため「2020年代の可能な限り早期に30％程度にする」との数値目標に変更されました。
女性活躍を推進するためには、働く女性たちの声に耳を傾け、より一層働きやすい環境を作るよう社会全体で働きかけを行って、目標を達成していくことが重要です。ILO組合事例集の好事例を参考に、あなたの労働組合でも女性活躍推進し、使用者との対話を進めてみませんか？

次回はサプライチェーンにおけるジェンダー平等の取り組みをご紹介します。

*1:総務省統計局「労働力調査（基本集計）2020年度（令和２年度）平均」https://www.stat.go.jp/data/roudou/sokuhou/nendo/pdf/gaiyou.pdf　(2020/07/06)　

*2:連合「【重点分野－３】連合『ジェンダー平等推進計画』フェーズ 1 世界の潮流は『203050』！ Change（チェンジ）・Challenge（チャレンジ）・Movement（ムーヴメント）！」https://www.jtuc-rengo.or.jp/activity/gender/data/promotion_plan_fs1/keikaku_fase1.pdf?9101 (2021/07/07) 

【働く女性のエンパワーメント】ジェンダー平等に向けた企業の取り組み事例集

ジェンダー平等のための企業ポリシーの重要性

東京証券取引所は、２０２１年６月、上場企業への「コーポレートガバナンス・コード（企業統治指針）」を改訂、施行しました*1。
ポイントの一つは、中核人材のダイバーシティー（多様性）の確保です。管理職における多様性の確保（女性等の登用）についての考え方と自主目標の設定に加えて、人材育成方針・社内環境整備方針を実施状況とあわせて公表することが要求されました。
ダイバーシティーの推進は世界的な潮流ですが、日本のジェンダーギャップ指数は１５６カ国中１２０位*2 と大変遅れています。ジェンダー平等の推進は極めて重要な課題になっており、企業にはより一層の取組みが求められています。 

ILOによる企業好事例集の発刊

企業は、今後、女性活躍推進に向けてどのような取組みをすればよいのでしょうか。ILO（国際労働機関）などによる「Ｇ７諸国における責任ある企業行動を通じた働く女性の経済的エンパワーメントの促進」（２０１７年９月１日～２０２０年１２月３１日）プロジェクトが参考になります。

www.youtube.com

このプロジェクトは、女性はイノベーション（革新的取り組み）、成長、雇用のカギを握る推進要素であり、女性がより有意義に経済に参加できる環境形成において民間セクターが決定的に重要な役割を演じているとの理解のもと、女性が仕事の世界で直面しているジェンダー不平等の解消に関して、民間セクターの関与の促進を目標の一つとしています*3。

プロジェクトでは、指導的地位における女性の促進、ワーク・ライフ・バランスや育児・介護といったケア政策／ポリシーなどに焦点を当て、企業や組合等の好事例集を公開しています。

今回は、企業の好事例集である「Company policies and practices for gender equality（男女平等のための企業ポリシー及び実際の活動）*4」（英語、仏語版のみ）で取り上げられた、日本企業のジェンダー平等を実現する取り組みをご紹介いたします*5。 

富士通の取り組み

レポートによれば、富士通株式会社本店では、２０１７年から、労働者のケア責任を支援するため、３万５０００人の労働者全員がテレワークを利用できるようになったと記載されています。また、妊婦や子育て中の労働者に対し、ベビーシッター費用の補助、事業所内保育園などで支援するほか、女性社員の長期的なキャリア継続の支援を目的として「女性リーダー育成プログラム」を実施しているとのことです*6。さらに、父親も１４週間の有給の育児休暇を取得することができると紹介されています。
また、ロンドンオフィスなどでは、ジェンダー間の賃金平等のための包括的な取組みが行われており、賃金格差の測定や報告、より良いワーク・ライフ・バランスの追求、女性管理職の人数の増加などに取り組んでいるとのことです。 

住友化学の取り組み

住友化学株式会社では、９８日間の有給の産休のほか、父親も５日間の育児休暇を取得することができ、父母はそれぞれ２８日間の育児休暇を一回または分割して取得することができます。
さらに、社内や職場付近に保育所を設置して、乳幼児１８０名を保育できるようにしたことで、親は子どもと時間を過ごせるうえ、子どもが付近の安全な場所にいることが分かります。また、住友化学では、特に父親が保育園を利用することを促して、ケア責任をより担うよう動機づけを行っています。
これらの取り組みにより、女性労働者の割合は、１１．８％（２００９年）から１３．６％（２０１６年）に上昇したほか、２００４年から２０１６年までに産休を取得した女性労働者の９０％が職場復帰を果たすなど大きな効果が上がりました。また、２０１９年度に育児休業を終了した女性社員の復帰率は、１００％になっています*7。

三菱ＵＦＪ銀行の取り組み

三菱ＵＦＪ銀行株式会社は、ワーク・ライフ・バランスを促進するため、有給育児休暇、父親の子育てへの参加の促進、子育てプログラムへの助成など、様々な取り組みを行っています。
三菱ＵＦＪ銀行では、女性活躍推進法の施行を受けて、女性の就業率を改善し、男女労働者双方のワーク・ライフ・バランスを支援するための育児ポータルを２０１６年に開始しました。このオンラインポータルを通じて、産休中でも女性が職場と連絡を取ることができるようになるほか、上司や使用者とのやり取りを行ったり、自宅で能力の開発維持を行うことで円滑な職場復帰ができるようになります。
三菱ＵＦＪ銀行のワーク・ライフ・バランス施策はポジティブな影響を発揮しているようで、女性労働者の割合が向上したほか、育産休取得後に職場復帰する割合も向上しました。この方法で雇用を維持したことで、４５万米ドルの支出が抑えられたと推定されています。
また、女性がマネジメント層により就くことになり、中間、上級管理職の割合は２００６年に５％だったのが、２０１６年には１９％に上昇しました。２０２１年３月時点での女性管理職比率は、４４．６％にまで達しています*8。

あなたの会社でもジェンダー平等を推進しませんか

このように、先んじてジェンダー平等の推進に取り組んでいた企業では、優秀な労働者を採用、雇用維持が可能になるなどポジティブな影響が生まれています。好事例集で紹介されている日本企業は一例であり、他にも素晴らしい取組みを行っている企業は少なくありません。
また、ダイバーシティーの推進は、それ自体が企業価値であると近年考えられており、「持続可能性」（サスティナビリティ）のある投資先として信頼されることが重要となっています。
好事例集を参照していただき、あなたの会社でもダイバーシティー経営を始めてみませんか？

次回は労働組合の取り組みについてご紹介します。

*1:日本取引所グループ「改訂コーポレートガバナンス・コードの公表」https://www.jpx.co.jp/news/1020/20210611-01.html （2021年7月6日）

*2:世界経済フォーラム(World Economic Forum)「The Global Gender Gap Report 2021」http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2021.pdf （2021年7月6日）

*3:ILO駐日事務所「Ｇ７諸国における責任ある企業行動を通じた働く女性の経済的エンパワーメントの促進」https://www.ilo.org/tokyo/ilo-japan/partnerships-with-japan/WCMS_773304/lang--ja/index.htm　(2021年7月6日)

*4:ILO, ” Company policies and practices for gender equality” ,https://www.ilo.org/empent/Publications/WCMS_756721/lang--ja/index.htm (accessed July 06, 2021)

*5:ILO, ” Company policies and practices for gender equality” https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---emp_ent/---multi/documents/publication/wcms_756721.pdf(accessed July 06, 2021)

*6:富士通株式会社「女性の活躍支援」https://fujitsu.recruiting.jp.fujitsu.com/whats/diversity/diversity-woman/(2021年7月6日) 

*7:住友化学株式会社「サスティナビリティデータブック２０２０」https://www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp/sustainability/information/library/files/docs/sustainability_data_book_2020.pdf (2021年7月6日)

*8:三菱ＵＦＪ銀行「福利厚生・女性活躍」https://www.bk.mufg.jp/muct/welfare.html　(2021年7月6日)

Intern report (4/4): Youth and the World of Work in the COVID19－From Perspective of Former ILO Tokyo Office Interns

===============

Inspired by the ILO survey on the impact on young people, this paper reports the findings from three roundtable discussions with a total of eight former/current ILO Tokyo Office interns (20s-30s) conducted in June 2020. Listening to the real voices of each individual, this paper identifies the impacts of the pandemic experienced by ILO interns as well as the elements influencing young people's careers even before the outbreak in Japan. Besides, some ideas are noted to overcome the existing issues with a hope to suggest what “the future of work” might be from young people’s perspective.

Please check out previous posts at the following links.

Intern report (1/4)

Intern report (2/4)

Intern report (3/4)

=============== 

4.    Persisting problems since before the pandemic (Continued)   

4.3 Simultaneous recruiting of new graduates

During the roundtable discussion, Participant J, who was looking for a job as a new graduate, shared her experience of feeling anxious about the difficulty of finding a foothold in the future if she missed the employment period for new graduates. Although it is an individual concern, it arises due to the unique nature of career development in Japan, especially in the job-hunting process, and can be said to be a concern that many new graduates have.

In Japan, companies generally conduct a recruitment test within a limited period of time (mainly conducted in springtime), recruit students who are about to graduate simultaneously and at once, and new graduates start work immediately after graduation. This system is commonly referred to as " Simultaneous recruiting of new graduates."^[1]

Historically, the Japanese employment environment has been characterized by lifetime employment, and the system of training in the company to prepare inexperienced and unskilled workers for their jobs has matured. From the perspective of investment in education and the payback period, it is a rational decision for companies to make the longest possible employment contracts with employees who can continue to work for as long as possible. New graduates will inevitably be the targets of such contracts.

When companies hire new graduates, they don't ask for much experience or skills, so students have the advantage of being able to join a large company because of the potential for future growth. It also allows companies to secure the best talent faster and reduces the time and cost of hiring. According to a survey by the Cabinet Office on hiring practices, companies use new graduate hiring for a number of reasons, such as "securing a certain number of new graduates on a regular basis" and "securing fresh personnel who are not familiar with the customs of other companies.” ^[2] It is clear that companies see this system as a benefit in terms of having a regular supply of easy to train people.

On the one hand, this system is often a source of concern for new graduate job hunters. They suffer from the pressure of not being able to fail because they will be out of the new graduate quota after graduation. They also have to apply to a large number of companies in a short period to obtain job offers in a limited amount of time, which can be physically and mentally difficult and affect their studies. According to a survey of new graduates conducted by a company that provides career support services to students, the top concern before job hunting is whether or not they will be able to find a job, and "overcrowded schedules" and "burden of entry sheets" are top concerns as the actual difficulties of job hunting ^[3]. Another thing is that "job hunting expenses" is the top factor. According to the survey, job-hunting expenses for new graduates averaged 161,312 yen (Approx. $1,600) nationwide, with transportation and accommodation expenses being a particularly large burden. In addition, there is a difference of approximately 50,000 yen between the Kanto and regional averages^[4]. Combined with the problem of Tokyo's concentration of information, education, and job opportunities themselves being concentrated in urban areas, this creates a disparity among job hunters and places a greater burden on new graduates looking for work outside urban areas.

With companies now focusing their recruitment activities on new graduates, old graduates often face difficulty in finding jobs. According to a survey by MHLW, 43% of the establishments in all industries surveyed said that graduates were able to apply for full-time positions for new graduates’ quota over the past year, and 47% of those were hired^[5]. This survey shows that about half of the companies do not hire graduates, confirming the fact that employment opportunities are limited to old graduates.

While the "new graduate quota" is an opportunity for students, students may not have any criteria for deciding which companies to work for, and a mismatch with a company can lead to an early leaving from the job. According to MHLWs survey of Young People's Attitudes to Employment in the White Paper on Children and Youth, more than 30% of young people left their first job in less than three years, and 43.4% of young people cited "the job wasn't right for me" as the reason for leaving^[6].

The internship is attracting a lot of attention as a way to prevent mismatches, but the Japanese internship system is positioned as a part of educational activities, not as a recruitment activity ^[7]. Therefore, it is not used as an opportunity to gain sufficient work experience. According to a survey conducted by a major HR services company, the most common elements of internship programs are non-usual tasks, workplace visits, and the opportunity to accompany an employee. Besides, the majority of companies set the internship period at one day only^[8]. It is too short for one to understand the duties of the job. For this reason, the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) is calling on the government to stop using the term "one-day internship" because it does not constitute work experiences, and to add provisions to the internship program as recruitment activities.

It is difficult to judge the merits or demerits of simultaneous and bulk-hiring of new graduates, as it can be both an opportunity and a concern for students. However, as the practices of lifetime employment and the seniority system that has characterized the Japanese labour market are breaking down, calls for a review of the new graduate hiring rules are increasing. Besides, COVID-19 has coincided with the spring job-hunting season, which has greatly hindered job-hunting activities, leading some to voice growing scepticism about a system that concentrates hiring at a specific time of year. Keidanren has announced the abolition of its guidelines for recruitment and selection of graduates from the fiscal year 2021, putting an end to the simultaneous hiring of new graduates. According to a survey of job-hunting students' opinions regarding the abolition of the guidelines, 60% of students agreed with the abolition of the guidelines, and more than 60% of students surveyed thought that they would prefer a combination of simultaneous hiring and year-round recruitment, or year-round recruitment only^[9]. It is clear that the students concerned are uncomfortable with the current recruitment system and want to see a change in the way they are employed.

There is no doubt that a new employment system is needed that takes into account students who do not want to miss out on the opportunity of being a "new graduate" and are troubled by it. For this reason, we need an environment and system that allows students to challenge job hunting more freely at various stages of their lives, without being limited to the time required to be a new graduate. Increasing the number of quotas for previous graduates, which are currently considered less favourable for employment than for new graduates, could be one way to ensure that job-hunting activities are not tied to the new graduate quota. Besides, decentralizing the recruitment schedule and adopting year-round hiring can reduce the burden on students. At present, only about 25% of companies employ new graduate throughout the year can expect to see more companies adopt year-round recruitment in the future^[10]. There is a concern that year-round recruitment will prolong the job-hunting process and increase the burden of job hunting costs, but companies, the government, and civic groups may be able to find ways to support this process to reduce the burden of students. Holding online job-hunting events, abolishing the requirement to wear a recruiting suit, and the operation of guesthouses for job hunters by government, municipalities, student groups, and civic organizations could be ways to reduce job-hunting costs. Furthermore, proactively hiring interns for jobs could be one way to prevent a mismatch, and at the same time, it could be a new recruitment method that replaces bulk hiring for new graduates.

It is not easy to switch to a different system right away because we are still in a transitional stage of discussing the pros and cons of simultaneous recruitment. However, a discussion that incorporates perspectives such as "what is the most desirable system for students" and "how can the burden be minimized" may lead to the adoption of a new recruitment system that further expands the potential of students' activities than the current bulk recruitment of new graduates.

4.4 Stereotypes in career development

4.4.1 Taking time out from work

One of the opinions shared at the roundtable on career perspectives was that certain stereotypes may be influencing career development. Certain stereotypes and assumptions are already considered good in career perspectives that influence or challenge various career choices. In this context, many roundtable participants shared their perceptions of blanks in employment (period of unemployment) in their job history. We were able to confirm that many people are concerned about the blanks that are created as they shape their careers and feel uneasy about not being part of an organization/ institution/ company.

This perception is likely to be influenced by the characteristics of the Japanese labour market. In Japan, a period of separation from work tends to be perceived negatively as an interruption of a career. It is generally considered a good idea to have a linear career, entering the company immediately after graduating from college and continuing to work until retirement without interruption. Therefore, in a practice that considers a career without any blank to be a good thing, returning to work or re-entering the workforce after leaving the company can be a disadvantage.

Regarding the most favourable separation period from work, a job search website advised it to be from 3 months to 6 months. It emphasizes that it is better not to have blanks as much as possible, as the blanks are detrimental to find jobs^[11]. In this way, the job market generally considers a non-disadvantageous blank period of about three months, and many people who change jobs move to their next job within a short period. According to MHLW's survey on people changing jobs, 29.4% of respondents said they had been out of work for less than one month, 24.6% said they had not been out of work for a while, and 12.5% said they had been out of work for more than one month but less than two months^[12]. This survey shows that more than half of the respondents are keeping their separation from work to three months or less. Workers are concerned that a prolonged period to be away from the workplace will disadvantage them when they return to work or re-enter the workforce. It causes workers to fear taking a timeout from their careers, as they are reluctant to take a leave of absence or leave their jobs, or hesitate about even taking an extended leave of absence.

This anxiety is especially crucial for women. Many have to leave their jobs due to marriage, childbirth, and childcare, and many of them are worried about returning to work or re-entering the workforce. A survey by a Japanese human resource service company on women with career gaps reveals that many women leave their jobs or take a leave of absence due to childcare and childbirth^[13]. In addition, a survey by the Cabinet Office indicates that the percentage of women who leave their jobs to have their first child is still high at 46.9%^[14]. As such, women often leave a job, especially for childbirth and childcare, but it is not easy to re-enter the job. A survey by MHLW on the re-employment situation of women who left their jobs to have or raise children shows that around 80% of them had concerns before finding a new job, and many of them were concerned about whether they could balance their work with childbirth or whether they could keep up with their work^[15]. In addition, many respondents cited "I can't find a job that meets my requirements" and "I get turned down if I don't have family support because I have small children" as difficulties in finding a new job^[16].

Job selection criteria for re-entry into the workforce tends to focus on job content, job satisfaction, employment status, and salary level, while at the same time seeking flexible work arrangements and family considerations. However, jobs that require good judgment and responsibility often call for full-time or overtime work, and it takes a lot of work to get hired after considering the various requirements. During the roundtable discussion, participants shared that they felt that marriage and pregnancy reduced the range of companies they could apply to and that they felt disadvantaged in their job search. It is clear that the situation of career interruption, which is generally seen as a negative, has affected women more significantly.

Women and job changes are not the only ones who are concerned about the gap in their careers. Participant J, who participated in the roundtable, is concerned about the career gap if she failed to find a job as a new graduate, and Participant C shared her experience that her time in graduate school was viewed as "blank" during her job search. Worries about gaps or blanks exist at various stages of career development.

It will take a long time to change the way the labour market views the blanks. However, we can change the way the blanks are considered in the workplace. Especially, improvement to support women is possible. Companies that try to foster a corporate culture that views separation for childbirth and childcare as a positive, rather than a career disruption, are sometimes held up as good examples, but they need to be addressed by more companies. Besides, to allay workers' fears about blanks, HR evaluations should incorporate a balance of hours worked and performance evaluations to ensure that shortened work hours after a leave of absence or return to work are not reflected in an excessively negative. Also, it is important to meet the supervisor and human resources personnel before and after they leave and return to work to ensure that you can take a leave of absence without worry. However, the system should not be one that benefits only the employees taking leave, so it is important to create a culture and system that does not make all employees feel unfair.

As work styles and career development are more diverse following the increase of average life expectancy and the length of employment, considering the blanks negatively in job history can be a barrier for individuals and society to achieve diversity. It is relevant not to consider leaving a job to be an interruption of a career. Moreover, creating an environment that various experiences and challenges are encouraged is necessary.

4.4.2 Training as generalists

The question of whether to become a generalist or a specialist has a significant impact on one's view of work and career development. Participant F shared her thoughts on the general trends in the Japanese labour market regarding the issue of specialists and generalists. Japanese companies are looking for and developing generalists rather than specialists, and this tendency to place a premium on generalists can affect an individual's career choices as well.

In the past, Japanese companies have focused on "internal labour market-based human resource management", in which new graduates are hired as generalists and then internally trained and promoted through transfer and reassignment^[17]. And it can be said that this trend is still going on. According to a survey by the MHLW on "Human Resource Development in Response to Diversified Ways of Working," companies that place importance on generalist/internal human resource development accounted for 39.8% of all companies of all sizes and in all industries, making up the highest proportion. This is followed by 33.2% for companies emphasizing the development of specialists and internal personnel, 15.9% for companies emphasizing the hiring of specialists and external personnel, and 11.0% for companies emphasizing the hiring of generalists and external personnel^[18].

A tendency for Japanese companies to place a high value on generalists can be glimpsed in the human resources development system known as "job rotation" (periodic personnel changes). According to a survey on corporate transfers conducted by the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training, 53.1% of companies responded that they had experienced job rotations, and when viewed by the size of full-time employees, the percentage was higher as the size of the company increased^[19]. With regard to the frequency of job rotation, 27.9% of companies responded that job rotations were for three years, followed by 18.8% for five years.

Job rotation, which allows employees to move around and gain experience in a variety of tasks, is an excellent way to develop generalists with a cross-sectional view of the company's business. This system is said to be beneficial for employees in charting their career path. By experiencing several different types of jobs, employees can understand their aptitudes, and it is easier for them to clarify their intentions and career development direction. Besides, by experiencing multiple departments and operations, you will be able to acquire multiple and highly applicable skills by gaining different perspectives.

On the other hand, transfers with ambiguous objectives can reduce the individual's freedom to build a career, as motivation to work is reduced and a high frequency of movement makes it more difficult to develop expertise. For example, the job listings for mid-career hires often say "3+ years of experience" and a couple of years for one field can be seen as insufficient experience. Participant F shared her friends' experience who had been working at a general trading company or a major manufacturer for five or six years and said, "They want to change jobs, but they have only acquired knowledge and skills that are not applicable outside the company." While job rotation is useful as a generalist development system, one of the disadvantages is that in the job market, employees are often considered as "in-house specialists" rather than generalists.

During the era of lifetime employment and the seniority system, many young people did not change jobs, but instead worked at a single company to improve their skills as a career-track employee and then became a generalist in a managerial position. However, with the end of lifetime employment, there is a growing tendency for those who are considering changing careers to believe that they need to acquire skills that can be used at other companies rather than a generalist career path. Also, with the evolution of digital technologies such as AI and data science, the demand for more advanced skills and abilities is increasing, and more and more young people are looking to acquire specialized knowledge. A survey of the attitudes of new employees conducted by the Japan Management Association showed that more than 60% of them want to become specialists, and this number is increasing every year. The survey also revealed that more young people want to work in a "merit-based and performance-oriented workplace where individuals are evaluated and treated regardless of age and experience," and that they are highly motivated to learn the skills and abilities necessary for their jobs. Additionally, nearly 90% of respondents believe that individuals are responsible for acquiring skills and abilities^[20].

It's not just the workers' side that is experiencing changes in their views of the profession. With the growing importance of embedding innovations such as global economic activity and artificial intelligence as a competitive advantage, companies are pointing to possible changes in their human resource management policies as well^[21]. According to a survey by the MHLW, when asked whether they thought the importance of generalists or specialists would increase in the future, many of the companies that emphasize the development of generalists and internal human resources said the focus on generalists would continue. However, we found that a higher percentage of companies that emphasize innovation activities say that specialists are becoming more important^[22]. Necessary skills vary depending on the company's strategy. Still, it may be an indication of the need for a change in the way people are managed, which has traditionally been focused on training generalists.

Accordingly, companies need to focus not only on generalists but also specialists in their human resources management, through identifying the development of working attitude and the ideal human personnel. More young people are working to improve their skills and abilities because of the unstable employment caused by COVID-19. Also, it is increasingly important to provide solid support for their growth and development. Since the human resource management of a company has a significant impact on individuals' career development, it is necessary to support the advancement of employees by mutual communication to ensure that the company's policy and their career development goals are aligned. Further, it will be necessary to pay close attention to how training and development will be changed or maintained in line with changes in society, including the impact of COVID-19, and how it will affect the career development of individuals.

4.5 Lifelong Learning

With 100-year life, there is an increasing attention to lifelong learning including professional skills^[23]. Although the purposes of learning are diverse, according to the Basic Survey of Skills Development by MHLW in 2019, many people have undertaken self-education^[24] in order to acquire the knowledge necessary for their jobs. Future career advancement is also a reason for learning. According to the "White Paper on Children and Youth" by the Cabinet Office, 53.2% of the respondents, the highest percentage, answered that they would like to continue learning if conditions were right in order to find a better job^[25].

Participants in the roundtable also expressed the hope that there will be more opportunities in the future to move back and forth between the labour market and learning opportunities. However, there are different challenges. For example, Participant S was concerned about time and money issues. In a job where people are working long hours, not only do they not have time to learn, but it may be difficult to spare time to think about learning in the first place. Also, the financial burden of learning can be too heavy.

These issues have been clarified in actual surveys. In the Basic Survey on Human Resource Development conducted by MHLW in 2019, the reasons given for problems in conducting self-education were "too busy" and "too much cost"^[26]. The survey also exposed the issue of gender equality in work-life balance. Looking at the results of the survey for full-time employees only, the next most common response was "too busy with housework and childcare to have time for self-development". For women who are required to spend time doing unpaid work, this means that time is taken up not only at work but also at home. In addition, companies are not actively supporting their employees' self-improvement programs. According to the JILPT survey, 30% of the 2,809 companies surveyed implemented self-improvement programs as a benefit for full-time employees, while 30% of the companies thought that employees should make an effort to help themselves^[27]. Considering that self-improvement outside the company is often expensive, for example, the cost of taking certification exams, textbooks, and attending external seminars, financial support may also be effective in promoting self-improvement and learning among young workers.

For individuals to receive financial and time support from companies, it is important that what they learned through personal development is returned to contribute to the workplace. However, it is also necessary to prepare places and positions where they can return their learning to their companies. It is important that not only subjects that are directly related to the work, but also a wide range of learning are valued, and that the evaluation system and work environment reflect this so that individuals are motivated to engage in various fields. In this way, an effort to connect the improvement of workers' skills and the benefit of the company could create an environment that enables individuals to develop themselves.

Also, more efforts are necessary to increase places where people can obtain learning. For example, the "White Paper on Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology" by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ("MEXT") in 2018 points out the lack of practical programs for working adults to study at universities and other institutions. To address this issue, the MEXT has established the Program for Fostering Practical Vocational Skills and is working to improve the environment for working people to learn^[28]. Recently, due to the effects of the pandemic, the edX, Coursera, JMOOC, Udemy and other services that provide free or low-cost access to courses from a variety of higher education institutions around the world are expanding their contents. In September 2020, the ILO also released a new e-learning program, "Multinational Company Declaration (Introduction)," in Japanese, to help workers learn about the Declaration of Multinational Enterprises to achieve responsible business practices^[29]. In this way, we need to expand the tools for learning and create an environment where it is easy for individuals to move between learning and working.

5.    Closing remarks

COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the way young people work, as noted by ILO's monitoring and a new report. However, as we heard the real voices of young people, it was highlighted that the problems that existed from the outset were more of groundwork, rather than a problem caused by the pandemic alone, and impacted the careers of young people. Through this round table project, we attempted to identify the effects of COVID-19 and to re-identify the initial problems in the careers of young people. Through this process, it is observable that young people in Japan tend to design their careers and lives and want the results of their choices to be accepted by society. Besides, more and more people recognize that harassment, long working hours, and other problems that have been ignored as "unavoidable" in the past, but are now recognized as a "problem."

Of course, the issues discussed in this article, such as working styles, harassment, simultaneous recruiting of new graduates, stereotypes about career development, and lifelong learning, are not limited to those discussed in Chapter 4. Although we have focused on young people in this paper, various issues related to the way we work exist across generations. It is not easy to improve these issues. Nevertheless, we hope that this project has provided some hints for a better future of work after the COVID-19 disaster. (The main points of the ideas I presented in Chapter 4 are summarized below.)

Thank you for reading!

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^[1] MHLW (2018), Labour Economic Trends Survey, p.11

According to the survey, 62% of the surveyed industries responded that they recruited new graduates as full-time employees during the past year (August 2017 to July 2018). In terms of the timing of recruitment, the largest percentage of the surveyed industries responded that they recruited in spring (69%), followed by "at any time of the year" (22%) and "in spring and autumn" (6%).

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/itiran/roudou/koyou/keizai/1808/dl/roudoukeizaidouko.pdf ...

^[2] Cabinet Office (2006) "Survey on Corporate Recruitment" https://warp.da.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/9990748/www5.cao.go.jp/seikatsu/whitepaper/h18/10_pdf/01_honpen /pdf/06ksha-servay.pdf

^[3] Supporters (2019) "Job Hunting Reality Survey 2019

https://corp.supporterz.jp/news/2019/student_survey

^[4] Kanto average 127,664 yen, regional average 182,633 yen

^[5]MHLW (2018), Labour Economic Trends Survey, p.11 https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/itiran/roudou/koyou/keizai/1808/dl/roudoukeizaidouko.pdf

^[6]MHLW (2018), "White Paper on Children and Young People, Special Report on Young People's Attitudes towards Employment and Other Issues", https://www8.cao.go.jp/youth/whitepaper/h30honpen/s0_0.html?_fsi=KGGGf9qO

^[7] Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, "Basic Approach to Promoting Internships" https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/koutou/sangaku2/1346604.htm

^[8] Recruit Employment Mirai Institute (2019), Employment White Paper 2019, p.16 https://data.recruitcareer.co.jp/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/hakusyo2019_01-56_0507up.pdf

^[9] Pasona Research Institute (2019), Student Awareness Survey on Job Hunting Activities and What Students Look for in Companies and Universities

https://www.pasonagroup.co.jp/news/index112.html?itemid=3318&dispmid=798%E3%80%80 ...

^[10] Recruit Employment Mirai Research Institute (2020) "Employment White Paper 2020

https://data.recruitcareer.co.jp/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/hakusyo2020_01-48_up-1.pdf

^[11] For example, doda, "How many months of separation is allowed? (https://doda.jp/guide/5min/010.html), Career Change Good, "What's the average length of time away from work (blank) and does it affect hiring after 6 months? (http://jobgood.jp/8183), and Mynavi Agent, "Guidelines for the length of the job search and the key to early settlement" (https://mynavi-agent.jp/knowhow/period/).

^[12]MHLW (2015), "2015 Survey of Persons Changing Jobs,

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/list/6-18c-h27.html

^[13]Adecco Group (2016), "Survey of Women's Attitudes towards Re-employment and Return to Work" https://www.adeccogroup.jp/pressroom/2016/1222

^[14] Cabinet Office (2018) 'Continuous Employment Rate of Women Before and After the Birth of the First Child' and 'Childbirth, Childcare and Women's Employment Status' http://wwwa.cao.go.jp/wlb/government/top/hyouka/k_45/pdf/s1.pdf

^[15] MHLW (2015), "Survey study on re-employment of women who left their jobs due to childbirth and childcare," p.26 https://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/koyoukintou/dl/h26-02_itakuchousa00.pdf

^[16] Ibid, p. 35.

^[17] MHLW (2018), "Analysis of the Labour Economy in 2018 - Human Resource Development in Response to Diversified Working Styles", p.109 https://www.mhlw.go.jp/wp/hakusyo/roudou/18/dl/18-1-2.pdf

^[18] Ibid, p. 111.

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/wp/hakusyo/roudou/18/dl/18-1-2.pdf ...

^[19] Labour Policy Research and Training Institute (2017), "Survey Series No. 174, 'Survey on the Actual Status of Corporate Transfers'," p. 7

https://www.jil.go.jp/institute/research/2017/documents/174.pdf ...

^[20] Japan Management Association (2019) "New Employee Opinion Survey Report

https://www.jma.or.jp/img/pdf-report/new_employees_2019.pdf ...

^[21] MHLW (2018), "Analysis of the Labour Economy in 2018 - Human Resource Development in Response to Diversified Working Styles", p.109 https://www.mhlw.go.jp/wp/hakusyo/roudou/18/dl/18-1-2.pdf

^[22] Ibid, p. 111.

^[23] Recruit Management Solutions Institute for Organizational Behaviour 2030 Work Style Project (2013) "Opinion #6: "Individuals Shine in the Future" - Don't think too much, just keep challenging yourself. https://www.recruit-ms .co.uk/research/2030/opinion/detail6.html

^[24] Self-education refers to activities that workers engage in to voluntarily develop and improve their vocational abilities in order to continue their vocational life (it does not include activities for hobbies, entertainment, sports and health promotion that are not related to their jobs). MHLW, "Basic Survey on Human Resource Development: Explanation of Terms" https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/list/dl/104-23c.pdf

^[25] Cabinet Office, "White Paper on Children and Young People, 2018 https://www8.cao.go.jp/youth/whitepaper/h30honpen/pdf_index.html

^[26] MHLW (2020) "Human Resource Development Basic Survey

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/list/dl/104-01b.pdf

^[27] Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training (2020), "Survey Series No. 203 (Part I): A Survey of the Actual State of Benefits Policies in Companies" https://www.jil.go.jp/institute/research/2020/documents/203_01.pdf

^[28] https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/hakusho/html/hpab201901/1420047.htm

^[29] ILO (2020), "The Declaration of Multinational Enterprises (Introduction)" e-learning program: https://www.ilo.org/tokyo/information/pr/WCMS_754779/lang--ja/index.htm

Intern report (3/4): Youth and the World of Work in the COVID19－From Perspective of Former ILO Tokyo Office Interns

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Inspired by the ILO survey on the impact on young people, this paper reports the findings from three roundtable discussions with a total of eight former/current ILO Tokyo Office interns (20s-30s) conducted in June 2020. Listening to the real voices of each individual, this paper identifies the impacts of the pandemic experienced by ILO interns as well as the elements influencing young people's careers even before the outbreak in Japan. Besides, some ideas are noted to overcome the existing issues with a hope to suggest what “the future of work” might be from young people’s perspective.

Please check out previous posts at the following links.

Intern report (1/4)

Intern report (2/4)

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4.    Persisting problems since before the pandemic    

 So far, we have seen the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic on young people, including former/current ILO interns. However, when roundtable participants talked about their concerns to their future careers, they often referred to problems that had persisted since before the pandemic; the ILO's report suggests that young people were facing a tough labour market even before the pandemic ^[1]. Therefore, Chapter 4 focuses on the factors suggested in the episodes of the roundtable participants that had an impact on young people's careers even before the outbreak. We will use the data to identify what makes the issues problematic for young people. For each theme, we will also present our ideas for what we can do to build a "better normal" in the world of work.

4.1 Work Style

4.1.1 Centralization in Tokyo

Two of the roundtable participants, from the Kansai and Kyushu area (Western and Southern Japan), mentioned that their career opportunities were centralized in Tokyo. When participant S moved to Tokyo for her graduate school, she realized that there was a disparity in access to internship opportunities and other seminars between Kansai (Western Japan) and Tokyo. On the other hand, participant J, who wanted to live with her parent in Fukuoka, said she had to look for a job in Tokyo because most of her work opportunities are centralized in Tokyo. These episodes from the participants are examples of how the centralization in Tokyo affects the career development of the younger generation.

Centralization in Tokyo is a phenomenon in which population, politics, and economic and other functions are concentrated in Tokyo and surrounding three prefectures (Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba). According to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, as of 2015, 28.4% of the total population was concentrated in Tokyo and surrounding three prefectures, and this percentage is expected to increase in the future^[2]. While the population is expected to decline in 46 prefectures in 2045, only Tokyo's population is expected to remain at the same level as in 2015 (100.7%)^[3]. It indicates that the centralization of population in Tokyo has accelerated over the five years from 2010 to 2015.

One of the main reasons for the concentration of population in Tokyo is the influx of young people. According to the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the largest number of people aged 20-24 years old moved into the Tokyo metropolitan area (79,964) in 2019, followed by those aged 25-29 (28,084) and those aged 15-19 (24,485)^[4]. This figure shows that, as the participants in the roundtable discussions, many young people move to Tokyo to enter universities or graduate schools, or to find a job.

This movement of the younger generation is related to the concentration of universities and companies in Tokyo. A quarter of the students enrolled in universities nationwide are studying in Tokyo, and more than 40% in Tokyo and surrounding three prefectures^[5]. Moreover, the number of listed companies' headquarters in Tokyo is 1,823, which is more than half of the total in Japan. In terms of the ratio of the number of listed companies' headquarters to the national total, it increased by more than 5% in the Tokyo metropolitan area between 2004 and 2015 (conversely, it decreased by more than 5% in the Western area)^[6]. It suggests that the influx of young people to Tokyo is related to the abundant options of universities and employers.

With such a high centralization of attractive academic and employment options and encounters with new people in Tokyo, the gap between rural and metropolitan areas is expected to continue to widen. However, the spread of COVID-19 has brought some positive changes. It has led seminars, internships, and classes going online, and some large companies start adopting teleworking as a new working style. Rather than viewing these moves as temporary measures, it is important to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the new ways of learning/teaching and working that were "experimented" with due to the pandemic so that we can make use of this experience to solve the problems that existed before the pandemic.

In addition to the disparity in opportunities between the Tokyo metropolitan area and rural areas, there are other problems caused by Tokyo concentration such as crowded trains, waiting lists for nurseries, and pressure on household budgets due to the high living expense in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Currently teleworking is getting a lot of attention as a way to work with mobility, but it will be necessary to consider how to achieve a more systematic decentralization of people and employment such as office relocations and the expansion of regional office functions. Since many young people feel positive about expanding their options for where they study, work, and live, this discussion is expected to become more active in the future.

4.1.2 Long working hours

When we asked about barriers to career development in the roundtable, long working hours in Japan was mentioned. Participant S felt that it is difficult for workers to change their careers and have opportunities to learn as they are too constrained by their jobs, which is not good for both the individual worker and society.

The issue of long working hours has been discussed and tackled since before a while. According to the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training (JILPT) the percentage of workers working more than 49 hours per week was 19% in 2018. Although it is still high compared to European countries, it shows an improvement from 28.3% in 2000^[7]. To strengthen measures against long working hours, the Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote Work Style Reform came into force in 2019. Under this new law, overtime is set to 45 hours per month and 360 hours per year in principle, with limits set for extraordinary and special circumstances^[8]. In particular, penalties are now stipulated, which is different from the previous law.

Despite legislation to reduce long working hours and a decrease in the number of working hours in the statistics, it appears that the reputation of long hours in the Japanese workplace is not completely negative. According to the Cabinet Office, people who work long hours feel that their bosses and co-workers have a positive image of those who work overtime, while "working little or no overtime and coming home on time" is not valued in their personnel evaluations^[9]. It means that those who work longer are more appraised in many workplaces, but rather those who work overtime are valued more.

Although long working hours tend to be evaluated positively in the workplace, its influence on health cannot be overlooked. In addition to empirical evidence that long working hours can be a factor that can damage mental health, it is also revealed that the risk of mental health problems increases when employees work longer hours without payment ^[10]. Interestingly, demographic group cited overtime work without payment cited as a factor in the deterioration of mental health among male workers who graduated from university who are younger than 40 years old. On the other hand, women and those who had not graduated from university were more likely to experience deterioration in their mental health as time commitment increased, regardless of whether they were paid for their work.

According to a JILPT survey (targeting workers aged 20-33 at the time of the survey), more than 20% of both men and women left their first full-time job because of "poor conditions of working hours, days off, and holiday", "poor wages", "poor condition of wages", "physical and mental health problems" and "poor workplace relationships”^[11]. This result shows that working conditions that can harm physical and mental health could affect young workers' decisions to leave their first job. Also, the average working hours per week is about 5 hours longer for those who left their companies (50.5 hours for men and 47.2 hours for women) than for those who continue to work (45.9 hours for men and 42.8 hours for women), and the percentage of those who worked 60 hours or more per week among those who left their companies (24.4% for men and 16.8% for women) was also twice as high as those who are working (11.1% of men and 6.9% of women)^[12]. It indicates that long working hours are associated with a high turnover.

Then, what is the ideal way for young people to work? A survey of 300 young people in their first to the third year of working found that 90% of young people need to work no more than 5.5 hours a day to secure the ideal time to sleep, commute, eat and enjoy hobbies and self-development^[13]. While this result might be extreme, the emphasis on livelihood is also evident in other surveys. According to a survey by a human resource company, about 80% of full-time employees in their 20s to 30s said that “working is mainly a commercial activity for them only to earn a living”, “they want to work in moderation because they want to have a better life outside of work”, and that “they would like to be evaluated based on results rather than working hours”.^[14]

Long working hours is also affecting relationships and marriages. Participants in the roundtable discussions said that long working hours makes it difficult to find time to meet new people outside of the workplace, and therefore, to start a new relationship. And even if they were able to start a relationship, the effects of long working hours are noticeable; 72% of men and women who work more than 40 hours of overtime per month have experienced a troubled relationship, and 69% have experienced a troubled marriage life^[15]. This suggests that working long hours can be one of the barriers for young people who want to have a relationship or get married.

Although working long hours affects workers' mental health, turnover, quality of life, and even relationships and marriages, there is a lack of awareness of the risks of working long hours in the workplace and among workers themselves. Also, it could be dangerous to try to reduce the number of work hours without recognizing the background of long working hours, such as high workloads, lack of human resources, lack of management, and corporate culture. Instead, it could lead to new problems such as working overtime without reporting, a widening gap between the system and reality, and a sudden decrease in income caused by cuts in overtime pay. Working from home in the pandemic also seems to present new challenges, as people no longer have to worry about the "last train" and work endlessly over time.

With new legal regulations already in place, it will be important to take action in the workplace. A study found that voluntary overtime working by workplace leaders had a negative impact on subordinates' work-life balance satisfaction^[16]. Unless overtime is necessary, supervisors may need to take the lead in returning home on time, which is an effective way to create an atmosphere that reduces over time in the entire workplace. With the diversification of work styles, such as telework and side jobs, and the increasing number of people working with distance, communication between supervisors and subordinates, as well as between team members, has become more necessary than ever before. For example, sharing openly individual schedules, documents, and customer information may help increase transparency in a team, which could make it easier for members to support each other. Also, regular opportunities for general review (not evaluation) of an individual's work may be helpful, especially for younger members who tend to feel uncomfortable revealing their concerns about their workloads. 

4.1.3 Balancing childbirth/childcare and career

In building one's career, there were several concerns expressed about how to balance one's career with childbirth and childcare. Participant C, who is currently looking for a job, felt that few workplaces realistically considered balancing childbirth and childcare with her career, and thought that to return to work after childbirth, she would have to find a job that had a better childcare leave system. Participant J heard about the difficulties that senior female researchers had experienced in balancing pregnancy and childbirth with their research careers. She said that this would be a problem that she would have to face sooner or later.

This view of young people is reflected from the problems facing the current working generation. For example, according to the Cabinet Office's Gender Equality Bureau, among 2.31 million women who want to work, the most common reason for “currently not seeking employment” is for childbirth and childcare, indicating that childbirth and childcare have a significant impact on women's careers. Furthermore, when their youngest child is in preschool nearly 10% of women want to work as a full-time employee, and 40 to 50% after junior high school. In reality, however, less than 20% of women are working full-time even when their youngest child is in junior high school or later. While the percentage of full-time working mother rises at the nursery and kindergarten stages, it drops to the same level as at the preschool stage along with an increase in the number of women who work shorter hours as non-full-time employees^[17]. The results suggest that it does not become easier to balance childcare and work along with children’s age.

According to OECD's international comparative data^[18], Japanese men spend 41 minutes of unpaid work per day, while Japanese women spend 224 minutes of unpaid work per day. In other words, women spend five times as much time as men in unpaid work. However, it is reported that Japanese men's daily paid work hours (452 minutes) are the second longest among OECD countries, after Mexico. It suggests that long working hours may cause less involvement in unpaid work by Japanese men.

While there is a significant gender bias in the division of unpaid work, fewer people have started to have a stereotype of gender roles in recent years. According to the 2016 Gender Equality Bureau's "Public Opinion Survey on Gender Equality Society”,^[19] for the first time, more than 50% of both men and women support the continuation of women's employment, and "agree" (40.3%) is the lowest percentage ever for the fixed division of gender roles. In other words, we can see that, although awareness of the need to share unpaid labour is growing, there is a tendency for men to work too many hours of paid work, making it practically impossible to share the unpaid work.

Establishment of childcare related systems in the workplace is progressing. According to a survey by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (“MHLW”), in 2017, 93.2% of workplaces with 30 or more employees had provisions for childcare leave, compared to 95.3% in the previous year^[20]. It was also reported that the number of workplaces with systems for childbirth and childcare up to age three is the largest followed by the number of workplaces with systems for up to the first year of elementary schooling. It indicates that companies are supportive of childbirth and early childcare.

However, is this change in awareness and systems reaching the young people? According to a survey of unmarried young people aged 20-34, while progress has been made in systems for men and women, the system itself is sometimes difficult to use and after all people who work long hours are valued^[21]. According to the Cabinet Office's 2018 White Paper on Children and Youth, 86.2% of respondents between the ages of 16 and 29 said they "strongly agree" or "somewhat agree" that there are jobs that make it difficult to balance childcare and work, followed by 81.4% who "find it difficult to change jobs or leave the workforce when they think about family matters^[22].

On the other hand, in the same survey, 70.4% of respondents said that their work is more rewarding when they get married or have children, indicating that childbirth and childcare motivate them to work^[23]. By utilizing this motivation, it may be possible to design a way of balancing working and family life that is mutually beneficial, rather than work being at the expense of family life.

To this end, it will be necessary to redistribute unpaid work, which is also a factor in gender inequality. Rather than having one person bear the burden of housework and childcare in the household, it is essential to distribute it according to each other's careers and work conditions. For example, it may be effective to make unpaid work paid through using a housekeeping service and visualize how much labour is spent on housework and childcare. It would make it possible for partners to redistribute household labour among themselves in a way that reflects their working hours and wages (including unpaid work). Instead of keeping unpaid work to women, it will be meaningful for partners to communicate with each other, as in the family described in a Japanese comic "Nigeru wa haji daga yakuni tatsu (Running away is a shame, but useful)". Moreover, training in housekeeping and childcare in the family can be helpful in building habits and skills. For example, set a day at home to share household and childcare methods when you start living with your partner or when your child is in middle or high school. Consciously setting such a time would help them to acquire household and childcare skills and create the potential for them to become more proactive in such a role. Besides, redistributing unpaid labour requires a review of paid work, because if employees work too much time at work in a limited time frame, the amount of time they can use outside of work will naturally decrease. Therefore, reviewing long working hours, working more efficiently, and increasing the time available outside of work will lead to a rational redistribution of unpaid labour.

Also, we believe that it is necessary to create role models who balance work with childbirth and childcare. As we have seen, Participant C and N's concern maybe because they have seen and heard about the difficulties in reality, which makes them not sure whether it is practically possible to do so. This concern might be alleviated if there are role models around who are taking advantage of the systems that are in the workplace, or reasonably distributing unpaid work at home. While it is relevant to increase the number of such role models, it may also help young people by increasing the opportunities for direct connections between role models and young people through apps or other platforms.

4.2 Harassment

Harassment such as abuse of authority and sexual harassment was mentioned in the roundtable discussion. Participant F, who has worked in the private sector, feels that in many offices there is insufficient awareness of harassment towards new employees. Furthermore, she questioned the tendency to link the durability of harassment to individual competence.

Looking at the current state of workplace harassment in terms of numbers, Japanese Trade Union Confederation (“JTUC”)'s survey in 2019 reported that 38% of all respondents had experienced harassment^[24]. In addition, according to a survey in 2016 by MHLW, 32.5% of employees responded that they had been subjected to abuse of authority in the past three years (compared to 25.3% in 2012)^[25]. Furthermore, consultations related to "bullying/harassment" at the General Labour Consultation Centre at prefectural labour bureaus topped the list of consultations in 2012 and are continuing to increase^[26].

While the number of consultations regarding harassment is on the rise, measures to address harassment in the workplace in Japan are being established. A new law was enacted in May 2019, obliging companies to take measures against abuse of authority in the workplace at large companies from June 2020. Under this law, the definition of abuse of authority has been redefined. However, a proviso was added: "From an objective standpoint, appropriate work instructions and guidance that are necessary and reasonable do not fall under the category of abuse of work in the workplace ^[27]." It is important to keep in mind that harassment itself depends largely on how the victim feels (e.g., even if the same words are said by the same person, each person feels differently), there is a possibility that the harassment damage may be underestimated..

The key to combating harassment is not only to develop laws, but also to change workers' attitudes toward harassment. According to a survey by JTUC, 44% of those who were harassed did not talk to anyone about it. The most common reason for not talking to anyone was that they thought it would be useless to talk about it (67.3%), followed by "I thought talking to anyone would make me feel uncomfortable again" (20.6%) and "I didn't know who to talk to" (17.0%)^[28]. This suggests that few people believe that talking about harassment is an effective way to get help, and that there are few colleagues to be able to talk to in workplaces. This suggests a lack of understanding of harassment in the workplace among workers themselves.

Harassment is also affecting young people who leave the workforce or find a job. According to a survey by JTUC, 27.3% of those in their 20s chose to leave their jobs as a result of harassment, and women in their 20s showed a higher figure than any other generation with 33.3%^[29]. This result suggests that harassment is one of the reasons why young people leave the workforce. In the same survey, 21% of men in their 20s and 12.5% of women in their 20s said they had experienced sexual harassment during their job searching, which had the effect of making them less motivated to look for a job and more afraid of meeting other people^[30]. The most common type of harassment was "sexual jokes or teasing" (39.8%), followed by "asking questions about sexual facts (e.g., sexual experiences)" (23.9%) and "persistent invitations to dinner or a date" (20.5%). This indicates that sexual topics are often brought up during employment interviews and alumni visits.^[31].

Meanwhile, as an international perspective, “the Resolution concerning the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work^[32]” was adopted by the ILO General Assembly in 2019 with overwhelming support. The resolution includes interns, job seekers and volunteers in the scope of protection, as well as a wide range of locations, including not only the workplace, but also commuting to and from work, email, internal social networking sites and employee dormitories. Since such a broad concept of harassment includes not only harassment during job hunting, but also new types of harassment called "remote-harassment” or “tele-harassment" that have emerged as a result of the increase in teleworking, referring to the resolution would help enhance measures against harassment in Japan.

With a rapid expansion of the "workplace" due to the pandemic, and new types of harassment, what measures are possible? Companies may cooperate with a third-party organization to create a work environment in which it is easy to talk about harassment. Many people who have been harassed are not currently able to talk about it at their workplaces, while the number of consultations to prefectural labour bureaus continues to increase. It suggests that there is a need for a consultation organization in the workplace that guarantees the content of the conversation confidential. Besides, such a third-party organization is not necessary only in larger companies, but also in smaller companies with smaller internal communities. Also, creating an environment in which a third party's opinion can be consulted may help promote mutual understanding between young workers and managers, as a wide generational gap in perceptions of harassment often exists (what younger employees perceive as harassment is often considered "better than what I have been done" by managers).

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^[1] Ibid, p.13

^[2] National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (2018) "Projected Future Population of Japan by Region (2018)" p.8 http://www.ipss.go.jp/pp-shicyoson/j/shicyoson18/1kouhyo/gaiyo_s.pdf

^[3]Ibid. p. 7.

^[4] Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (2019), "Basic Resident Register Population Mobility Report 2019 (2019) Results," p.2 https://www.stat.go.jp/data/idou/2019np/kihon/pdf/all.pdf

^[5] Daiwa Institute of Research (2018), "Population outflow and regional development associated with university enrolment: Is curbing university capacity growth in Tokyo's 23 wards the trump card to stop population outflow?" https://www.dir.co.jp/report/research/policy-analysis/regionalecnmy/ 20180104_012631.pdf

^[6] Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (2019), "The Current State of the Concentration of Corporations in Tokyo", p.3 https://www.mlit.go.jp/kokudoseisaku/content/001319708.pdf

^[7]Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training (JILPT) (2019) 'Databook International Labour Comparison 2019', p.247

https://www.jil.go.jp/kokunai/statistics/databook/2019/06/d2019_T6-03.pdf

Ibid (2015) 'Databook International Labour Comparison 2015', p.202 https://www.jil.go.jp/kokunai/statistics/databook/2015/06/p202_t6-3.pdf

^[8]MHLW, "Special Site for Work Style Support" https://www.mhlw.go.jp/hatarakikata/overtime.html

^[9] Cabinet Office (2014), 'Gender Equality Bureau, Survey of Individuals and Companies on Work-Life Balance', p.10 http://wwwa.cao.go.jp/wlb/research/wlb_h2511/9_insatsu.pdf

^[10] Kuroda, Yamamoto (2014) 'Employee mental health and working hours: an examination using employee panel data' https://www.rieti.go.jp/jp/publications/dp/14j020.pdf

^[11] Labour Policy Research and Training Institute (2019), "Survey Series No. 191, 'Job Turnover and Career Development of Young People after Job Turnover II (Second Survey on Skills Development and Workplace Retention of Young People),'" p. 104

https://www.jil.go.jp/institute/research/2019/documents/191_03.pdf

^[12] Ibid. p.117

^[13] Parsol Process Technology (2017) "Conducted a survey of young people's ideal work style, 80% of young people's ideal boss is the type who works zero overtime and delivers results

https://www.persol-pt.co.jp/news/2017/08/09/1858/

^[14] Recruit Management Solutions (2017), "Survey Report on Long Working Hours: Actual Conditions and Attitudes of Regular Employees in Their 20s to 30s on Average Monthly Working Hours

https://www.recruit-ms.co.jp/issue/inquiry_report/0000000582/

^[15] Partner Agent (2017) "About 70% of people who have experienced the loss of a relationship or marriage due to long hours of overtime! Those who "gave up dating and concentrated on work" (15.5%) and "changed jobs" (9.2%)

https://www.p-a.jp/research/report_83.html

^[16] Watanabe, Yamauchi (2017) "The impact of long working hours of workplace leaders on subordinates' work-life balance satisfaction: an examination of nursing professionals working in hospitals

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jsha/54/2/54_65/_pdf/-char/ja

^[17] Gender Equality Bureau (2020), White Paper for Gender Equality 2020, http://www.gender.go.jp/about_danjo/whitepaper/r02/gaiyou/pdf/r02_gaiyou.pdf

^[18] OECD Employment : Time spent in paid and unpaid work, by sex https://www.oecd.org/gender/data/time-spent-in-unpaid-paid-and-total-work-by-sex.htm

^[19] Department for Gender Equality (2016), Co-Equalities, December 2016, p.3 http://www.gender.go.jp/public/kyodosankaku/2016/201612/pdf/201612.pdf

^[20]MHLW (2018), "2017 Basic Survey on Equal Employment," p. 14

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/list/dl/71-29r/03.pdf

^[21] Nissay Research Institute, "Young People Today and Ten Years from Now: How They Work - The Gap Between the Ideal and Reality of Worker Reform and Expectations for the After-Corona" (Japanese only) https://www.nli-research.co.jp/files/topics/64268_ext_18_0.pdf?site=nli

^[22] Cabinet Office, "White Paper on Children and Young People, 2018 https://www8.cao.go.jp/youth/whitepaper/h30honpen/pdf_index.html

^[23] Cabinet Office, "White Paper on Children and Young People, 2018 https://www8.cao.go.jp/youth/whitepaper/h30honpen/pdf_index.html

^[24]Japan Federation of Trade Unions (2019) "Survey on Harassment in the World of Work 2019" https://www.jtuc-rengo.or.jp/info/chousa/data/20190528.pdf?50

^[25]MHLW (2017) "Survey on Power Harassment in the Workplace" https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/houdou/0000163573.html

^[26]MHLW's "Akarui Workplace Cheering Group" portal site for prevention and resolution of workplace bullying and harassment issues. https://www.no-harassment.mhlw.go.jp/foundation/statistics/

^[27] Translation by the author. MHLW (2020), "Guidelines on Harassment in the Workplace" https://www.no-harassment.mhlw.go.jp/pdf/symposium_siryo_2.pdf

^[28] Japan Federation of Trade Unions (2019) 'Survey on Harassment in the World of Work 2019', p.5 https://www.jtuc-rengo.or.jp/info/chousa/data/20190528.pdf?50

^[29] Ibid, p. 7.

^[30] Ibid, p. 8-12.

^[31] Ibid, p. 9.

^[32]ILO Office in Japan "Violence and Harassment Convention of 2019 (No. 190)" https://www.ilo.org/tokyo/standards/list-of-conventions/WCMS_723156/lang--ja/index.htm

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Next article is about simultaneous recruiting of new graduates, stereotypes in career development and lifelong learning ↓

labourstandard1919.hatenablog.com

Intern report (2/4): Youth and the World of Work in the COVID19－From Perspective of Former ILO Tokyo Office Interns

===============

Inspired by the ILO survey on the impact on young people, this paper reports the findings from three roundtable discussions with a total of eight former/current ILO Tokyo Office interns (20s-30s) conducted in June 2020. Listening to the real voices of each individual, this paper identifies the impacts of the pandemic experienced by ILO interns as well as the elements influencing young people's careers even before the outbreak in Japan. Besides, some ideas are noted to overcome the existing issues with a hope to suggest what “the future of work” might be from young people’s perspective.

Please check out previous posts at the following link. 

=============== 

3.    The impact of the pandemic faced by ILO interns 

So far, we have outlined the impact of the outbreak on young people presented in the ILO report.

While the ILO's research has revealed the challenges facing young people around the world, we wanted to further breakdown "young people" and find out more about individual circumstances and feelings of young people in terms of their careers.

To this end, we held three roundtable discussions with eight former/current ILO interns to share the situations that each individual was facing during this crisis and exchange their views on their careers.

In light of the ILO report, the following section introduces real voices shared by each former/current ILO intern in the roundtable discussions.

3.1 Introduction of the participants of the roundtable

Graduate school student specializing in international human rights law. After graduating from university, she continued her research at a graduate school to become a researcher. As a foreigner who was born and raised in Japan, she is interested in the problems of foreigners in Japan. She plans to study abroad this year.

Graduate school student specializing in human security. She was born in South Korea but spent her childhood in Japan. Influenced by her father, a missionary, she has been interested in international cooperation since she was a child. She plans to start working at a consulting company next year.

After graduating from university, she obtained her master's degree in development education and global learning from a graduate school in the UK. She then worked for a company that dealt with human resource development/executive coaching and is currently studying labor issues as an ILO intern. This year, she plans to join her partner in South America.

Practitioner of international cooperation. After graduating from university, he worked in the private sector. He then spent two years in Madagascar as a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer and obtained a master's degree in international development at a graduate school in the UK. After returning to Japan, he worked as an intern at the ILO and is currently working in Côte d'Ivoire as a fixed-term employee. He is in charge of projects related to cooperation between the primary industries and the private sectors and is responsible for monitoring and supervising projects.

After graduating from university and working for a while, she went to a graduate school in the UK to obtain her master's degree. Returning to Japan, she has been looking for a job at companies or organizations that provide support to migrant workers, which is her area of expertise. On the other hand, she is also engaged in a part-time job related to international development.

Graduate students specialized in the reproduction of disparity, poverty, and inequality in Morocco, with a particular focus on the educational arena.

Working for a financial institution. After graduating from law school, she entered a public policy graduate school to study labour policy, labour law, and quantitative analysis of policy. She is currently working at a financial institution and is attracted to the fact that she can do finance-related work with a broad perspective. She is in the middle of an online rookie training program.

 Attorney. Loves labour law, and while studying violations of the duty of collective bargaining at graduate school, she also works as an attorney at a law firm being in charge of cases related to the new coronavirus and handles other financial matters such as stocks and mergers and acquisitions. Realizing the importance of being outspoken, she communicates actively through SNS.

3.2 Employment

The ILO report clearly shows that the COVID-19 has had a huge impact on labour market for young people around the world. Employment problems are more severe than ever before: 6.9% of young people aged 18-29 have already lost their jobs, 10.5% are employed but have worked zero hours. A total of 17.4% are out of work, which means that one in six people are not able to work^[1]. Nearly half (54.0%) of young people lost their jobs after the pandemic because of either the closure of the company they were working for or being laid off^[2].

One of the participants in the roundtable discussion also had this problem. After completing her internship at the ILO, participant C originally contracted to work for two months as an outsourced assistant, but it has changed to a monthly contract due to the pandemic. She has difficulty in looking for a new job because of the pandemic.

Participant T is working in Côte d'Ivoire as an international cooperation practitioner in charge of a project on cooperation between the primary industries and the private sectors as a fixed-term employee. According to his contract, he was supposed to stay in Côte d'Ivoire until December 2021, but due to the pandemic, he had to return to Japan temporarily. Since he cannot go to the project site and does not know when he could return to Côte d'Ivoire, his plans and salary have been greatly affected.

Participant K, a graduate student, had to cancel a field study she had planned for her research for this summer. Since field research is an essential part of her research, she will have to make changes to her plans for the next few years.

While the impact of the pandemic has not emerged as an immediate employment problem, it has created a situation that could affect future employment. As the ILO report warns, many young people, especially those in the transition from education to work, are exposed to labour market risks on an unprecedented scale. We could observe this risk turning into reality from each situation of ILO interns.

3.3 Reduction in working hours and income

Along with the issue of employment, one particularly salient problem is the decrease in working hours and earnings. According to the report, 37% of young people in employment saw a reduction in working hours, while 78% of those who had a decrease in working hours saw a cut in wages by 42%^[3].

During the roundtable discussion, not only Participant C, who had her contract period reduced, but also Participant T, who had to return to Japan temporarily, also spoke about the impact of the pandemic on their salaries. He got a local allowance in Côte d'Ivoire, but he cannot receive it while in Japan. Hence, his salary was severely cut. It has been a great problem for him, as he has to repay the scholarship.

Participant J had worked part-time to pay for her living expenses, especially her monthly rent while doing research. However, the company she worked for closed down temporarily, and she lost her part-time income for a few months. As she still has to pay the rent, she has managed to make ends meet by using up her savings.

As the report points out, young people who receive an education while working are concerned that they may not be able to finish their studies, and that the work experience and income they have lost may be difficult to make up for. Several participants in the roundtables also mentioned such risk and anxiety.

3.4 Increase in working hours 

The negative effects of COVID-19 are not only seen in a decrease in working hours but also an increase. In the ILO report, 17% of the young workers had an increase in working hours per day from 7.3 to 10.3. Of this group, two-thirds (67%) reported working more than 10 hours a day. The report notes that 30 % of the young workers reported a decrease in earnings after the onset of the pandemic, suggesting that they may be working longer hours to compensate for the decrease in income.

Some participants from the roundtable pointed out that teleworking has caused longer working hours. Participant F said she sometimes works too long, and that it is difficult to separate the teleworking time from her private time. There are some researchers indicate that one of the downsides of telework is that they tend to work longer hours^[4]. The fact that young workers work longer than before suggests that it can be more difficult to disconnect from work along with an increase in teleworking.

3.5 Gender

According to the report, gender differences in employment, income decline, and self-rated productivity are primarily caused by occupational differences between young men and women and other socio-economic factors^[5]. The study reflects the situation of young men and women with higher education. While young men are affected by unemployment, fewer working hours, and lower earnings, young women tend to have lower self-rated productivity. Comparing young men and women of the same age along with employment status (public/private) and major occupational groups (ISCP-08), the gender difference decreased by one-third (37%) for declining earnings, one-half (53%) for less working hours, and almost non-existent (98%) for unemployment. On the other hand, a significant gender difference (9%) was shown only with self-rated productivity. The result may be influenced by factors other than work, such as increased domestic and care work. The results of the Labour Force Survey show that the labour market prospects of young women have been severely affected by this crisis^[6], and studies of previous economic crises show that the impact of the economic downturn varies between men and women^[7]. Therefore, further research is needed to understand the gender impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

The gender differences in the impact of the pandemic did not come up in the roundtable discussion, as there was only one male participant in the discussion. However, the worries on the women's side, which they have had since before this disaster, have not been resolved yet. We will look at this topic in the next post.

3.6 Teleworking

Under the pandemic, nearly three-quarters (72%) of young workers reported working partially or fully from home^[8]. Young people in managerial (82%), professional (77%), and technical (78%) occupations were more likely to telecommute than those in clerical, sales, and other occupations (54%), and young people working in the private sector (68%) were less likely to telecommute than those in the public sector (77%). Younger women (75%) reported working from home than young men (68%) ^[9].

Roundtable participants also indicated that they had partially or fully adopted teleworking due to the outbreak. An attorney O had worked remotely since February, and when the declaration of state emergency was lifted (May 25, 2020), she started to spend two days a week working at the office. She said that she continues to work a combination of office working in core time (going to the office at 10 am and going home before 4-5 pm) and working from home. She was positive about working from home, saying that one of the best findings during the pandemic was to realize that her work could be done at home. On the other hand, Participant S, who works at a financial institution since April 2020, said that she currently conducts all of her new employee training online and is concerned about whether she can adapt to the changes that will occur when she has to go to the office.

Also, the current interns have been fully telecommuting since March. Participant N and F had worked in the office for the first month, then moved to telework. Participant J started her internship completely online from the beginning. She had to pay extra attention to staff members who she had not seen before, while there was no opportunity to meet new people which she could have gotten from a normal internship. Participant N said that she was confused by the change of working style in the beginning. On the other hand, Participant F emphasized the importance of close online communication with colleagues as her supervisor helped her a lot through frequent video callings.

While starting a new job fully online seemed to be challenging, those who had started their job before the pandemic tend to find positive aspects of teleworking.

3.7 Education and Training

The report revealed that career prospects are fraught with uncertainty (40%) and fear (14%) as young people predict difficulty in completing education and training^[10]. This is linked to the closure of schools and places to learn, which is depriving young people of social contact.

Participant N had also planned to study abroad this fall, however, all of her classes for the year were switched to online due to the travel restrictions. Although educational opportunities have been secured, as she plans to work in the destination country, the pandemic made her concerned about her future career.

Even amid the new coronavirus crisis and school closures, nearly half of young people are taking advantage of new learning opportunities^[11]. 44% of those surveyed, including 53% of young people who have completed higher education, began their studies at the beginning of the pandemic. While many young people are taking courses related to specific occupations or to improve their technical skills (54%), they also indicate a range of interest in learning (foreign languages, ICT, communication skills, problem-solving, and teamwork).

Participant O had planned to study abroad but had to change her plans due to the pandemic. She is currently motivated to look for other ways to improve her skills as she considers studying abroad as one of her options.

By looking at quantitative data presented in the ILO report and the real voices of eight former interns from the ILO Tokyo Office, we have been able to observe the specific situations faced by young people affected by the pandemic. The problems and changes that the roundtable participants are experiencing with this outbreak overlapped in many ways with those outlined in the ILO's report such as employment problems, reduced income, increased working hours, concerns about future careers derived from gender issues, telecommuting, and educational opportunities. In this regard, the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic on young people as presented in the ILO report was shared to some extent by the ILO interns. At the same time, we found that there were various personal circumstances behind the situation, as well as diverse ways of perceiving the situation itself.

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^[1] ILO (2020) "Youth&COVID-19: Impacts on Jobs, Education, Rights and Mental Well-being", https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_753026.pdf, p.13

^[2] Ibid, p. 18.

^[3] Ibid, p. 19.

^[4] According to the "Survey on Diverse Working Styles (Telework)" published by the Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs in March 2019, the top disadvantage felt by those who have teleworked at home is that they tend to work long hours. https://www.hataraku.metro. tokyo.lg.jp/hatarakikata/telework/30_telework_tyousa.pdf

^[5] supra note 5, p.19

^[6] ILO (2020) "Preventing exclusion from the labour market: Tackling the COVID-19 youth employment crisis" https://www.ilo.org/emppolicy/pubs/WCMS_746031/lang--en/index.htm

^[7] Rubery, J. and Rafferty, A. (2013) "Women and recession revisited. Work, employment and society", 27(3), pp.414-432.

^[8] supra note 5, p.20

^[9] This 30% gender difference is due to the fact that men in our sample are more likely to work in the private sector (where the telecommuting environment is less well-developed than in the public sector) than women.

^[10] supra note 5, p.26

^[11] Ibid.

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Next article is about persisting problems in youth-employment in Japan since before the pandemic↓

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Intern report (1/4): Youth and the World of Work in the COVID19－From Perspective of Former ILO Tokyo Office Interns

Executive Summary

COVID-19 has transformed our lives and exposed the challenges faced by different groups, including migrant workers and women. The ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work. Fourth edition and "Youth&COVID-19: Impacts on Jobs, Education, Rights and Mental Well-being," point out the severe impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on young people such as a significant increase in unemployment and suspension of education and training. 

Inspired by the ILO survey on the impact on young people, this paper reports the findings from three roundtable discussions with a total of eight former/current ILO Tokyo Office interns (20s-30s) conducted in June 2020. Listening to the real voices of each individual, this paper identifies the impacts of the pandemic experienced by ILO interns as well as the elements influencing young people's careers even before the outbreak in Japan. Besides, some ideas are noted to overcome the existing issues with a hope to suggest what “the future of work” might be from young people’s perspective.

The impact of the pandemic faced by ILO interns

To find out individual circumstances and feelings of young people in this pandemic in terms of their careers, three roundtable discussions were held to share the situations which each individual was facing during this crisis and exchange their views on their careers.

Employment: While the impact of the pandemic has not emerged as an immediate employment problem, it has created a situation that could affect future employment for young people such as temporary suspensions of projects and job searching, and cancellation of planned research.  

Reduction in working hours and income: A roundtable participant experienced a reduction in the period of employment, which resulted in a reduction in income. Other participants also went through income reduction, which made them difficult to pay student loan and rent.

Increase in working hours: some interns revealed that teleworking has caused longer working hours than before. The fact that young workers work longer than before suggests that it can be more difficult to disconnect from work along with an increase in teleworking.

Gender: The obstacles to balancing childcare and career were pointed out, although the participants haven’t observed new problems arise from the pandemic yet.

Teleworking: Roundtable participants have partially or fully adopted teleworking including online training due to the outbreak. While starting a new job fully online seemed to be challenging, those who had started their job before the pandemic tend to find positive aspects of teleworking.

Education and Training: With the cancellation of studying abroad, some participants had to reconsider their future career plans.

Problems persisting from pre-pandemic 

Roundtable participants often referred to problems that had persisted since before the pandemic when they talked about their concerns about their future careers. There are five themes;

Work Style: 

- Tokyo centralization caused a significant disparity in terms of academic and employment options between rural and metropolitan areas, which makes young people move to Tokyo.

- Although working long hours affects workers' mental health, turnover, quality of life, and even relationships and marriages, there is a lack of awareness of the risks of working long hours in the workplace and among workers themselves.

- Many participants considered pursuing one’s career while engaging with childcare challenges. This concern could be derived from the current situation of a significant gender bias in the division of unpaid work, long working hours in paid work and evaluation standards in workplaces, and a lack of role models. 

Harassment: 

- While the number of consultations regarding harassment is on the rise, harassment against young people both in the workplace and in the recruitment process makes it difficult to remain in the workforce. Many victims cannot/do not talk about what their harm because they do not consider talking/consulting helpful.

Simultaneous recruiting of new graduates: [1]

- This unique recruiting system in Japan benefits companies in terms of a regular human resource supply and easiness in training new employees. However, students tend to suffer from the pressure of not being able to fail because of the difficulty of finding jobs for those who have already graduated and are not categorized as “new graduates”. [2] Furthermore, as students decide on companies in a rush, a mismatch with a company after starting to work leads to an early leaving from the job.  

Stereotypes in career development: 

- The blank in a career (period of unemployment) tends to be considered negatively, which makes young people feel uneasy about not being part of an organization/ institution/ company. This idea of a continued linear career puts women who often leave the workforce because of childbirth/childcare in a difficult position.

- Japanese companies often place a high value on training generalists through such as “job rotation”, which allows employees to gain experience in a variety of tasks. However, frequent transfers with ambiguous objectives can reduce the individual's freedom to build a career, as motivation to work is reduced and expertise is barely developed.

Lifelong Learning:

- More and more people undertake self-education to acquire the knowledge necessary for their jobs and future career development. However, long working hours could reduce learning opportunities. Besides, the financial burden of learning could be an obstacle.

Ideas for the better future of work

In response to the problems we discussed, which persisted since before COVID-19, this paper has proposed the following ideas that may lead to solutions to the issues, hoping that these ideas provide hints for a better future of work.

[1] In Japan, companies generally conduct a recruitment test within a limited period (mainly in springtime), recruit students who are about to graduate simultaneously and at once, and new graduates start work immediately after graduation.

[2] New graduates are students who just graduated from the universities. On the other hands, students who finished the universities more then one year are referred as old graduates.

1. Introduction

COVID-19 has transformed our lives and exposed the challenges faced by different groups, including migrant workers and women. The ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work. Fourth edition focuses on the impact of novel coronavirus on young people^[1].

The monitoring report points out the triple shock that young people are facing:

(1) Over one in six young people surveyed have stopped working since the onset of the COVID19 crisis. Among young people who have remained in employment, working hours have fallen by 23%;

(2) Education and training are also suspended;

(3) Emergence of larger obstacles to finding work, (re-)entering the labour market and trying to transition to better jobs.

The report, "Youth&COVID-19: Impacts on Jobs, Education, Rights and Mental Well-being," released on August 12 on the occasion of International Youth Day, includes a survey of more than 12,000 young people (18-34 years old) in approximately 112 countries. The report analysed in four areas: employment, education and training, mental well-being, and youth rights.

Through these surveys, a question came to our mind:

What do young people really think and feel about their careers in this pandemic?

Inspired by the ILO survey on the impact on young people, we conducted three roundtable discussions with a total of eight former/current ILO interns to "visualize" actual influence on their careers. In this paper, Chapter 2 outlines the content of the ILO report, and Chapter 3 identifies the consequences of the pandemic, which are evident in episodes that emerged from the roundtable discussions. Chapter 4 addresses some elements suggested in the roundtable that has influenced young people's careers even before the outbreak and offers ideas for overcoming these issues. Through this report, we hope to suggest what "the future of work" might be from young people's perspective.

Listening to the real voices of each individual is as important as macroscopic analysis and data used in ILO monitoring reports because the impact of the pandemic varies from person to person. This attitude resonates with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which pledged to "leave no one behind" on the planet. We believe that individual stories will help us to better understand the reality of the impact of the pandemic.

The content and information in the roundtable are as of June 2020, when the roundtable discussions were held.

 (Roundtable discussion)

2. The impact of the pandemic on youth according to the ILO report

First, we will review the impact suggested in the report "Youth&COVID-19: Impacts on Jobs, Education, Rights and Mental Well-being"^[2].

Concerning "employment", the report identifies the following impacts, noting that young people have been facing a tough labor market even before the COVID-19 outbreak occurred:

• 4% of young people who responded to the survey stopped working;
• Among those who stopped working, 6.9% are unemployed; 10.5% are employed but working zero-hours;
• Among young people in employment, 37% of respondents showed a decrease and 17% showed an increase in working hours;
• 78% of young people who had a decrease in working hours had a decrease in wages by 42%;
• The most common occupations for young people who lost their jobs were administrative support, services, sales, crafts, and related industries.
• Declining working hours and earnings are exposing many young people to unprecedented labor market risks. Many of them are in transition from education to work;
• Young people who reported an increase in working hours raises concerns about overtime work and difficulties experienced in disconnecting from work;
• Nearly a third of young people switched to partial/complete remote work;
• The gender difference regarding impacts on employment is largely driven by occupational differences between young women and men and other socio-economic factors.
• Young women assessed their productivity lower than young men, which may be because of increased domestic or care work;
• Many of the government's labor policies tend to target young people who remain in employment.

This enormous impact could deprive young people of employment prospects in the long term. The report calls for an urgent, large-scale, targeted employment policy response to protect an entire generation of young people.

Concerning "education and training", the analysis included not only formal education in educational institutions but also informal education. From the results of the questionnaire, the report states that the following impacts:

• 79% of the respondents reported that the school closures and other measures had caused interruptions in education and training;
• Significance in a "digital divide" due to the introduction of online education;
• 65% of young people who continued to learn also learned less than they did before the pandemic;
• To conduct smooth online following challenges are required to be solved: lack of internet access, digital skills to learn and teach remotely, IT equipment at home, materials for remote teaching, and group work and social connections;
• The lack of career prospects leaves many young people feeling uncertain and insecure;
• However, even during this crisis, more than half of young people are creating opportunities to acquire new skills and knowledge.

Concerning "mental well-being" almost half of the respondents were found to be potentially affected by anxiety or depression. Although expectations for the future motivate the young people to start decent work, approximately 54% of young people are now worried about their future because of the pandemic.

Concerning "rights" the focus is on the right to education, the right to housing, and freedom of religion and belief. For example, about 32% of young people who lost their jobs felt that their right to housing was affected.

As we have seen above, the impact of the new coronavirus is varied. However, the results also revealed that one in four respondents engaged in volunteer work and donations. Moreover, they made efforts to connect with friends and family during the quarantine through social networking services and platforms.

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^[1] Monitoring defines youth as 18-29 years old.

^[2] The ILO survey covers a total of 12,605 young people aged 18-34. The report defines young people as 18-29 years old and analyses the survey results for 30-34 years old as a comparator. The young people who responded were mainly young workers with higher education. A total of 112 countries responded to the survey, but since the questionnaire was administered online, it does not adequately reflect the voices of young people in low-income countries.

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