Japanese women #3

I'm finally home after over 12 hours of travel and I'm feeling a little weary. Though I'm still enthused by my week I think today's blog post can be one I prepared earlier:

Women and work

• I was interested to learn that after the Equal Employment Opportunity Law went into effect in 1986 things began to change for employment of women. Prior to this women, even those who'd spent time at university, usually became office ladies, primarily responsible for serving tea, simple clerical tasks and services for their male supervisors. Essentially housekeeping skills used in the workforce. Many were married in their early to mid twenties and quit upon marriage.
• After 1986 companies began offering two different tracks of employment. General track and integrated track. The general one is offered to women who prefer to be treated separately - like the girl-Friday routine jobs described earlier. The integrated track teats women the same as men, expecting them to accept transfers, to do overtime and promotions are also a possibility.
• The difficulty for Japanese companies treating women like the men is that they spend quite a bit of time and money training their new employees. If women quit after just a short few years, the company has lost a valuable resource. Not a very cost effective way of operating.
• I like this quote, "Unlike male office workers who tend to work at a rather languid pace and end up putting in overtime, women have a tendency to approach their work briskly, planning deliberately to complete what they have to do by five o'clock so they can leave on time." p209
• The author postulated that more women in the 'integrated' workforce may well cause an evaluation of the "deplorable custom of having men remain in the office until all hours of the night." p209
• I have to admit that Chapters 8 and 9 about politics and activism were more than I could manage, however it was interesting to learn of the ground-roots political affairs that women are getting involved in in their 'free time'.