Interview with Managers “Nippa Corporation”

Founded in 1961 as Niiha Paper Industry Co., Ltd., which mainly focuses on the cardboard processing industry. In 1990, the company was renamed Nippa Corporation to diversify its business divisions. We are engaged in a wide range of planning, design and manufacturing cardboard packaging, as well as simple cardboard toilets and toilet paper in the event of a disaster. Currently, of the 48 employees, 9 female employees. This time, Ritsuko Akimoto, Representative Director, who has also experienced raising children, talked about women's work styles and awareness reforms.

I have never distinguished it by gender when it comes to recruitment in the first place. When I got married, I stepped into this industry when the Japanese economy was uphill. Even big companies were looking for workers, but small businesses like us couldn't afford to choose human resources. It doesn't matter if you work anyway, whether men, women, or people with disabilities. Nowadays, it is said that it is promoting women's advancement and employment of people with disabilities, but since the absence of such words, we have been focusing on recruitment as a matter of course. It's still alive. I'm not working on it because it's called the promotion of women's advancement. A company is called a person, but if there is no person, a company will not be established. Also, since management is continuing, you can't make money temporarily. We are looking for someone who can constantly demonstrate their strength and grow steadily, rather than exerting their power instantaneously. In that sense, women are very helpful because they are highly sustainable and work hard without getting tired of their work.

Of course, we have been working on general things such as the Childcare Leave Law for a long time. In addition, we have adopted systems such as "shredded labor" and "linked labor". For example, when you go to a kindergarten or other kindergarten at noon. If you temporarily leave the company and leave your child to another person, come back and work. Similarly, if you go to the hospital to health check-up, you can leave for a few hours. As I have experienced, if you have a system that allows you to get out on the way, you don't have to quit your job or take a rest. We also allow children to be brought to the company. If I have any problems or consultations, I listened to them each time and thought about how I could solve them. However, I don't think it's just about meeting your needs. It is also important that women themselves have a strong awareness of wanting to engage with society. This is the same for people with disabilities and those who return from maternity leave. Why do you want to work? I want you to think about it. No matter how much the system is enhanced, if the consciousness of the person's work does not change, cooperation not only from the company but also from family members and people around them will weaken. If you don't change women's consciousness because you want them to continue working for a long time, you won't be able to provide real support.

I think emotions and compassion were born. Since children are running around the company well, male employees seem to naturally be smiling. When I work intensively, I don't know, but when I suddenly breathe, when I see such a figure, I can be gentle. A single male employee said, "If I get married and I have a child someday."…I think I'm looking at it. In fact, if your wife starts working somewhere while raising a child, it may bother someone in the same way. If you are complaining here, no one will cooperate when you become such a situation. It's like each other. The same applies to people with disabilities. If there is a person with a disability in your family, and when you work, "because there is a disability."…I don't like it if you say that. Because your child may have a disability. In addition, the presence of women has created new businesses. The patented cushioning material was thought by women. It was originally made of garbage, but I think it is an excellent idea that is hard to come up from a male perspective.

First of all, as a goal, I would like to raise women in sales positions. It's hard to grow in this industry. It's strange, but I've never seen it at other companies, and even if I was there, it won't last long. I think one of the reasons is the rarity of women. In particular, women's sales positions are rare, so customer responses are different from those of male employees. Female employees are worried about that.…There are many cases where such a vicious cycle occurs. However, some women have excellent abilities, and some are looking for business. I would like to think about a breakthrough and increase the number of places where I can play an active role as a job. Why don't you feel frustrated? In the first place, I think that the promotion of the active participation of women is a prejudice against women. I don't think it's a special effort. In fact, as the birthrate declines in the future, the labor force will inevitably decrease. There is an era in which women naturally have to work as a labor force. At that time, if women's own consciousness and the attitude of the accepting companies do not change, I think this problem will not be fundamentally solved.

I wanted to try a new job, so I changed jobs to this company. Currently, I am involved in general affairs work while raising two children. However, there was a big pinch in my 15-year career. There was a time when the second child's nursery school was difficult to decide, and I was worried that I had to quit the company as it was. However, I wondered if I felt such anxiety from Representative Akimoto. "Why don't you consider the option of kindergarten? You just have to get out of work and pick me up. " I was really happy at that time. I wanted to continue working, and even if I was raising children, I didn't want to lose my contact with society. Currently, the children are still 10 and 4 years old, so I work shorter hours, but I would like to return to full time when I grow a little older. This company has many seniors as mom employees, can also consult about childcare, and there is also a family-wide exchange event where children can participate. Above all, it is encouraging to be a woman whose representative works. I would like to continue contributing to the company while thinking about how I can continue my work.

Nippa Corporation
1508, Nippacho, Kouhoku-ku, Yokohama-shi
http://www.nippa-group.co.jp/ (external site)
Industry: Processing and sales of paperware
Number of employees: 48 people
Female Support System: Maternity leave system / childcare short working hours system / childcare leave system / nursing leave system