At the 94th GRIPS Forum on June 16, 2014, Ms. Yoshie Komuro, President and CEO, Work-Life Balance Co., Ltd., gave a lecture titled “Work-Life Balance as a National Strategy”.

• Abstract

It is still difficult for female workers to play active roles in organizations, even when general support systems are available. An increasing number of male workers are leaving their jobs to become caregivers for elderly family members. Colleagues who suffer from mental health disorders are no longer uncommon at working places. The desire to work is decreasing among male workers in their prime. Underneath various problems faced in workplaces in today’s Japan, including those mentioned above, lies the issue of the normalization of long working hours. Improving the work-life balance will bring happiness both to individuals and companies. This is the essential idea behind the concept of the work-life balance, and it also hints at how the future of Japanese society may be saved. Today, I’d like to talk about the issues to be dealt with and ways to solve them, as well as how Japanese society should be, based on what I’ve learned through more than 900 consultations with organizations to review their ways of working. Let’s think together about work-life balance as a national strategy to solve labor issues.

• Speakers’ Profile:

-Shiseido Co., Ltd. (1999-2005)

-Won Nikkei Woman Of the Year 2004, Career Creation Division (2004)

-Established Work-Life Balance Co., Ltd. (2006 July)

-Visiting professor at the Kanazawa Institute of Technology (2009 April)

-Member of the Assessment Task Force, Liaison Conference for the Promotion of Work-Life Balance, Cabinet Office

-Member of the Specialist Committee on Work-Life Balance, Council for Gender Equality, Cabinet Office

-Member of the Research Committee on Creation of New Lifestyles and

    Community Regeneration, Cabinet Office

    -Get the Biggest Chances and Best Appraisal! Yoshie Komuro Teaches How to

    Present Yourself, Gakken Publishing, July 2013.

    -How to Shine through Working, PHP Institute, November 2013.

    -Win with Reverse Thinking: How to Make the Most of Child-rearing in Working,

    Asahi Shimbun Publications, January 2014.