Women accounted for a record 41.9 percent of central government employees hired on April 1, the Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs said.
The figure rose 1.5 percentage points from the prior year and marked the second consecutive year above 40 percent. Women filled 38.2 percent of career-track positions, also a record high. Of 9,268 total recruits as of April 1, women numbered 3,885. They took 339 of 887 career-track posts. The Cabinet approved in March a basic plan for gender equality that set a 40 percent target for female national public servants and career-track roles by fiscal 2030. The Foreign Ministry posted the highest rate at 58.1 percent while the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism recorded the lowest at 29.5 percent. A bureau official said government support for balancing work and child care plus workplace improvements through work style reform produced the results.