There are many services out there to help people change jobs, but we believe that there is no other recruitment agency that specializes in shorter working hours. For working mothers, shortened working hours are a non-negotiable requirement. However, many working mothers find that they are deprived of opportunities to advance in their careers, or that they are removed from their positions, even if they have the ability to do so. We spoke with Yoshihiro Masuyama and Hayahiko Okugawa, president of Real Me Co.
(We spoke to...)
Real Me Co.
Mr. Yoshihiro Masuyama, President and Representative Director
Hayahiko Okugawa
What we insisted on was not part-timers or contractors, but regular employees with shorter hours.
Editorial:What are some of the features of Real Me Careers?
Masuyama:Our job search support service, "Real Me Career," is a so-called "job change agent. However, it differs slightly from other recruitment agencies in that it focuses mainly on working mothers who wish to work shorter hours while being treated as full-time employees. The shortened workday system allows full-time employees who are raising children and working eight hours a day from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. to shorten their work hours by one or two hours in order to be able to pick up their children from nursery school at 6:00 p.m. In fact, this system is actually based on work rules. In fact, some companies have a restriction in their employment regulations that this system cannot be used unless the employee has worked for the company for at least one year. In addition, many employees, no matter how long they have worked for the company, lose their motivation due to the removal of their position or the change in their job description once they become regular employees with shorter working hours. We provide job change support services that focus on full-time and short-time employment, rather than part-time or contract work.
Editorial:In the first place, do jobs with "shortened working hours" conditions themselves exist?
Masuyama:Companies are looking for people who can work full time, so it is unlikely that there are any job openings out there for people who want to work shorter hours. However, whether a company requires eight or six hours of work to achieve the results they are looking for depends on how the hiring manager defines the job and the abilities of the person working the job. Even if they work shorter hours, they should even be able to produce better results than full-time workers, depending on their abilities. In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to hire full-time workers, so we suggest that companies should pay close attention to the new talent pool of short-hours workers.
Editorial:Do other recruitment agencies also offer shorter hours?
Masuyama:If you register with an existing recruitment agency, there are many cases where you are turned down because they cannot offer you a position with a shortened workday, or you are instructed to keep the shortened workday condition a secret.
Editorial:I never imagined that working shorter hours would be such a difficult condition for changing jobs. What kind of companies and types of jobs does Real Me Careers introduce?
Masuyama:Many of the companies are in growing industries such as IT. There is a wide range of job types, including sales, marketers, engineers, designers, accounting, human resources, and clerical work. Venture companies have a structure that makes it easy for non-full-time personnel to play an active role because their ability to recruit has not yet caught up with their growth potential and it is difficult to secure human resources.
Editorial:On the other hand, are there any industries where it is difficult to change jobs with shorter hours?
Masuyama:Traditional industries, such as large corporations and manufacturers, are on the conservative side, and the hurdles are still high.
I want to change jobs, but they won't hire me with shorter hours. -----The dilemma working mothers face.
Editorial:How and why did you set up a recruitment agency specializing in short-time work?
Masuyama:The co-founder of the company is a working mother with two children, and I had the opportunity to get a close look at her daily life. She worked during the day, picked up her children from daycare in the evening, cooked dinner when she got home, and fed them. There was no time to catch my breath until I put them to bed. However, we heard from one of our clients that she was unable to change jobs before working flexible hours, and that was the first time we learned about the problems that working mothers face when changing jobs. This was the first time I learned about the problems working mothers face when changing jobs. The co-founder, a woman, had been working full-time using the flexible work hours system, so she had never thought about the difficulties she would face in changing careers. Based on this experience, we decided to launch the service because we believed that being able to change jobs while working shorter hours would be of great value.
Editorial: Have there been any difficulties from the launch of the service to the present?
Masuyama: We started in October 2017, and for a while, the number of registrations kept increasing, but there were only a few companies that we could introduce. We started in October 2017, and for a while we only had a growing number of people registering, but only a few companies to introduce. We tried to sell our services to companies listed on job sites, but many of them would not accept us because of the "shortened working hours" requirement, even though they were in need of workers.
Editorial: What kind of feedback have you received from those who have used your services?
Masuyama: In general, there are issues such as not being introduced to positions with shorter hours, finding out after the selection process that shorter hours are not allowed, and difficulty in adjusting to the conditions. In the case of our company, from the beginning, we focus on projects that accept shorter hours, and since we understand the market conditions for shorter hours, we can proceed smoothly. I believe that those who have been successful are satisfied with our service, but on the other hand, we still have a small lineup of companies, so there are cases where we are unable to introduce a company that satisfies their needs.
We would like to enhance the number of companies to which we can introduce people, and make it a major career change for people with shorter working hours.
Editorial: Please tell us about your future development and ideal vision.
Masuyama: Ideally, we would like to have a situation where there is no difference in choice of occupation between full time and short time. For example, when a person with a certain level of experience decides to change jobs, he/she should have a choice of 5 to 10 companies, from which he/she should be able to select 3 or so companies. To achieve this, we would like to quickly get out of our niche and minor status and become a major player in the short-time job market, so that when a listed company tries to hire short-time workers, we will have the power to say "how many people can we introduce per month".
Editorial: What types of businesses or occupations would you like to add in the future?
Masuyama: The human resources industry, with its high growth rate, is one target. Other targets include the beauty industry, where women tend to be more active, and corporate sales to retailers.
Editorial: Are there still more women career advisors?
Masuyama: Of the 25 employees working at our company, approximately 80% are working mothers. Most of our career advisors are women, but we also have a few men on our staff. We are different from other recruitment agencies in that we know how many children you have, how long it takes you to drop off and pick up your children, and other points to consider before offering advice. Another major advantage is that we can sort out what is acceptable and what is not for mid-career hiring. Companies cannot make that decision because they do not anticipate the need for mid-career hires with shortened hours. We color-code and communicate the availability to the companies. We also play an important role in helping to ease the concerns of candidates by providing them with information such as the market rate of pay for shorter hours compared to full-time work, as well as coordinating between the company and the candidate in terms of the number of hours they can work and the salary conditions.
Consultation from fathers as well as mothers is welcome! A chance for couples to review their working styles and careers.
Editorial: We have asked about job changes for working mothers, but can you accept inquiries and consultation from men as well?
Masuyama: There are also very rare cases of consultation from men who want their wives to work full time and they, as husbands, want to work shorter hours. Although there are very few cases, consultations from fathers are of course welcome. If they come to us with questions such as, "I don't mind working full time, but I want to go home at 7 p.m. without working overtime," we will be able to respond in a variety of ways. The image of men working full time still persists, but I think that in another five years, we will see a change in this trend.
<After the interview
Although there is a lot of talk these days about women's success in the workplace and reforms in the way people work, the conversations we had with working mothers made us keenly aware of the difficulties they still face in finding their own unique way of working without giving up on both childcare and their careers. Still, I was struck by his words, "Whether you are a man or a woman, balancing childcare and work is the same challenge. I hope that Real Me Careers can be one of the options for people to have flexibility in the way they work in order to achieve this," said Ms. Okugawa, who was also present at the meeting. The day may not be far off when Real Me Careers will open a new chapter in society as a whole with its shortened working hours.
Real Me Careers Official Website
https://www.realme-career.com/
