By Sam Nussey and Anton Bridge

TOKYO (Reuters) – An overwhelming majority of Japanese firms think it would be difficult or impossible to fill at least 30% of executive positions with women by 2030, a Reuters poll showed.

The results underscore the challenge the world’s third-largest economy faces to close its gender gap. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida set a target in June for women to hold at least 30% of executive positions at leading companies by 2030.

The latest initiative to raise female management participation was announced to boost female roles from 2.2% as of July 2022.

According to the poll, 60% of corporate managers said it would be difficult to hit such a target and 29% said it would be impossible.

The results reflect the lack of momentum in Japan towards enhancing the role of women in the workforce to improve diversity and boost economic growth.

This year Japan ranked 125th out of 146 countries in an annual World Economic Forum report measuring gender parity, down from 116th last year and below China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Japan’s biggest business lobby, Keidanren, launched a similar initiative in 2020. Respondents to a Reuters survey two years ago were also pessimistic of expanding their female executive ranks.

Overcoming Japan’s male-oriented corporate culture remains a roadblock, the survey respondents said.

Although there are young women in positions with the prospect of promotion, there is a lingering impact from older hiring practices that tended to allocate general office work to women, said a manager at a chemical company.

For others, the timeline to reach the 30% target would be too tight.

“It’s an extremely short period in which to achieve the goal,” said a manager at a construction firm.

More than half of companies polled said they have hired or plan to hire female managers externally, with 45% of companies introducing or planning to introduce measures to help juggle work and home life.

Other countries have pushed to enhance the role of women in business. For example, nearly 40% of board positions at companies on Britain’s FTSE 100 index are occupied by women compared with 12.5% a decade earlier.

In contrast, women held 14.5% of board seats at Nikkei 225 companies in 2022.

On the overall business environment, corporate managers remained pessimistic with 74% saying conditions would be “not so good” or “bad” at the end of October. Additionally, 60% of companies said they were considering raising prices this year.

The survey, conducted for Reuters by Nikkei Research, canvassed around 500 large- and mid-size non-financial firms. About 250 firms answered the question on condition of female executives.

Click here for a more detailed breakdown of the poll result.

(Reporting by Sam Nussey and Anton Bridge; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

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