An effort to promote child-rearing among employees turned sour when a Japanese company publicly disclosed the birthrate among its staff members, sparking criticism that it is meddling in their lives and creating unfair expectations.
In April, major trading house Itochu Corp. published the average number of children its female employees are estimated to bear in a lifetime, setting it as one of the most essential indexes to promote women's advancement at the company.
The birthrate, calculated based on self-reported information from its regular and other workers, excluding temporary staff, stood at 1.97 in fiscal 2021, which ended in March 2022, well above the national average of 1.33 in 2020, according to the trading house.