Hiring Women Managers in Japan: An Alternative for Foreign Employers

Foreign Employers as Relief Routes: Women, Multinational Corporations and Managerial Careers in Japan

“…In 1988 Lansing and Ready pointed at it as a prescription for foreign employers' recruitment problems in Japan. Foreign employers could remedy the difficulty they experienced in hiring male Japanese workers by actively pursuing women, because the local employers were ‘reluctant to hire them even if they may be better qualified than male graduates,’ and left a ‘large untapped pool of well‐qualified people who may be willing to forego traditional prejudices about foreign firms’ (Lansing and Ready, 1988, p. 112). The subsequent decades have, if anything, made qualified Japanese women an even more widely and immediately recognized source of staff for foreign employers.…”

“…Thirdly, the role foreign employers can play in truly redefining prospects of women's greater participation in managerial careers is ultimately tied to the way in which their practices interact with and influence practices in other institutional spheres (Acker, 1998, p. 196). There is a rapid transformation of the notion in Japan that ‘the ordained role of women is to put marriage and family before all other obligations’(Lansing and Ready, 1988, p. 124) and Mariko, for example, might have found it far less possible to take on an overseas post if she were not single and without care responsibilities. But the fact that managerial careers are compatible with being single, rather than motherhood, in terms of supporting institutions in the country remains problematic for both foreign employer and local employee alike.…”

Competitive Frontiers: Women Managing across Borders

“…This dynamic has been particularly pronounced in Japan where foreign corporations have had difficulty attracting top ranked male applicants (see [16,17]). American firms have led the way in hiring excellent Japanese women, while Japanese firms are still extremely reticent to hire them (see [18]).…”

Culture’s consequences for working women in corporate America and Japan, Inc.

“…However, as applied, the EEOL actually created a dual-track personnel system that has forced women into early choices which tend to either deny them promotion to managerial positions or the personal time they need to attend to home and family responsibilities. Women are generally not put on the managerial track unless they insist on it (Lansing & Ready, 1988), while men are often placed on this track automatically. Additionally, women who choose the management track continue to be treated differently once on the job, with one out of three citing discrimination as their biggest worry in pursuing a career (S. .…”

“…This latter route has the appeal of offering challenging jobs and good pay on a more equal footing with men. Foreign firms often actively recruit talented female managers because the security and benefits connected with Japanese firms make it difficult for foreign companies to tap the pool of top-tier male employees (Lansing & Ready, 1988).…”