Fast Retailing’s Yanai seeks to boost ratio of female execs, Head of Uniqlo’s Japan operations Akaida is possible candidate, Photographer: Kentaro Takahashi/Bloomberg. Akaida, 40, joined the company in 2001 and has managed Uniqlo stores in China and Japan, as well as working in the sales and human resources divisions. I am a wealth reporter at Forbes, based in London covering the business of billionaires, philanthropy, investing, tax, technology and lifestyle. Cookie Policy As talk of Uniqlo’s next CEO intensifies, Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe has spoken about the need to address the country’s shrinking workforce, and part of that concerns a better quality of work and more senior positions for women. Female executives often face implicit gender bias, Business Insider previously reported. Congratulations to Maki Akaida, the new CEO of Uniqlo Japan. TADASHI Yanai, Fast Retailing's 70-year-old billionaire founder, said he would prefer to be succeeded by a woman, which would be better for Asia's largest retailer. With a declining birthrate, the number of people will slump by almost a third by 2060, by which time about 40% will be 65 or over, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. Akaida has been at the forefront of that effort. This isn't the first time Yanai has expressed his commitment to diversifying the top ranks of his company. If selected, she could face substantial headwinds because of her gender. Maki Akaida, formerly a group senior vice president at Fast Retailing, assumed the role of CEO for Uniqlo’s Japanese business this month. If Akaida does take over at Fast Retailing, she would join a handful of women who have run or are running multibillion dollar enterprises in Japan, including Yoshiko Shinohara of temporary staffing outfit Persol Holdings and Miwako Date at property developer Mori Trust. Maki Akaida, a 40-year-old group senior vice president at parent company Fast Retailing, assumed the role of CEO for Uniqlo's Japanese business this month. I joined Forbes in May 2019. When managing a store in the capital's desirable suburb of Kichijoji, she was known for successfully overseeing one of the most popular Uniqlo outlets in the country. Uniqlo's focus on simple, causal styles that appeal to a diverse clientele has allowed it to rapidly expand across the globe. Congratulations to Maki Akaida, the new CEO of Uniqlo Japan. It’s not surprising then, that Japan’s richest person, the Founder and CEO of fashion giant Uniqlo (worth an estimated US$12.88 billion), Tadashi Yanai, has just two outfits in regular rotation – a US$15 navy-blue Merino-wool crew-neck jumper and a +J blue suit from Uniqlo’s collaboration with German designer Jil Sander. In 2011, Dow Jones awarded me its highest writing award for a series on Japan’s budget and bureaucracy. Clothing chain is known for its commitment to promoting women. "The job is more suitable for a woman," Mr Yanai, the chief executive officer behind clothing giant Uniqlo, said in an interview. Please review our Japan, where the term “Womenomics” was originated by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, back in 2014. Love knows no Boundaries, the Story of Anja Ringgren Loven. Most recently, I. I am currently a freelance journalist and television and radio commentator in Tokyo and have covered the Japanese economy and politics for two decades. “Leaders need to work harder than everybody. As reported by Bloomberg Japan, Yanai said of his CEO role said “the job is more suitable for a woman,” adding that women “are persevering, detail-oriented and have an aesthetic sense.”. Fast Retailing currently has six women in such roles, after hitting its goal last year of having more than 30% of women in management positions. When managing a store in the capital’s desirable suburb of Kichijoji, she was known for successfully overseeing one of the most popular Uniqlo outlets in the country. NEW YORK, United States — Tadashi Yanai, Fast Retailing Co.’s 70-year-old billionaire founder, said he would prefer to be succeeded by a woman, which would be better for Asia’s largest retailer. Sign up for Insider Life. Yanai said he wants to increase the ratio of female senior executives to more than half the total. She replaces Takao Kuwahara, a group executive vice president at the parent who had succeeded Yanai as head of the Japan business last fall. Yanai's efforts are especially rare in Japan, where only 4.1% of executive-level roles at publicly traded companies are filled by women, according to Japan's Gender Equality Bureau Cabinet Office. The Southeast Asian region will become an increasingly important part of Fast Retailing’s business, Yanai added. The company said it would invest $1.8 million in a partnership with the International Labour Organization, an arm of the United Nations, to help support factory workers in Indonesia. GC4women.org © 2020. You may opt-out by. “They are persevering, detailed oriented and have an aesthetic sense.”. She won promotion to store manager just six months after joining Fast Retailing out of university. In June that year, she was named CEO of Uniqlo Japan, the company’s most profitable business. Yanai said such investments are a way to both help pursue business goals and contribute to the world, as upward mobility in developing countries would likely eventually boost Fast Retailing’s top line. © 2020 Forbes Media LLC. ), Akaida isn’t content to rely on vested qualities. The ILO will also conduct a study in other countries where Fast Retailing has contract factories to explore ways to improve social protections for workers in the future. Uniqlo's stores outside of Japan now comprise the majority of the chain's sales, according to its website. Fast Retailing is putting more women into management and has moved the office for the effort from human resources to right under the president. (Photo by Hiroshi Kiyonaga/Nikkei BP), Cracks emerge in Japan's brick-and-mortar economy, Japanese companies set goal of 30% female executives by 2030, Job-hunting apps expose Japanese women to sexual harassment. Uniqlo appoints First Female, Maki Akaida, as... Forbes: Women, Leadership, and Vision Advice from Kristen Pressner, SVP of HR at Roche Diagnostics, Air France becomes First Major Airline to be Led by Female CEO. Get trusted insights from experts within Asia itself. With a host of names rumored to be in the running for the firm’s top job, any successor would be joining a retailing empire with operating profit last year of $2.3 billion. The Japanese retailer is now aiming to put women in more than half of its senior positions. Stay ahead with our exclusives on Asia; the most dynamic market in the world. since. Tadashi Yanai, the billionaire founder of Japan’s Uniqlo retail empire, has said that he would prefer his successor to be female. “We would hope that there would be enough people who are overseeing management who have some sort of experience with that demographic, who maybe are familiar with the needs, wants, desires of that customer,” Collins said. Directing the office starting this month is Mari Kogiso, director of the Gender Investment and Innovation Department at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. I have conducted hundreds of interviews for print and television, including for CNBC, and covered Asia’s financial crisis and the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. The company aims to raise that figure to 50% by supporting its female staffers’ career development with steps such as in-office day care and paid leave for elder care. "They are persevering, detailed oriented and have an aesthetic sense.". All rights reserved. Now CEO of Uniqlo Japan, she has been tapped by Fast Retailing’s CEO Tadashi Yanai, Japan’s richest person, as a possible successor. Hedge fund manager Ray Dalio allotted 10 years to find someone to succeed him as the co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater, he told Business Insider's Bradley Saacks and Richard Feloni in July. 110 in its Global Gender Gap Index 2018 with a wage gap of 24.5% for women in 2017, compared with wages for a man in the same role. “The job is more suitable for a woman,” Yanai, the chief executive officer behind clothing giant Uniqlo, said in an interview. Maki Akaida has stormed up the corporate ladder since 2001 when she joined Fast Retailing, operator of the global fast-fashion retailer Uniqlo. Tadashi Yanai, Fast Retailing Co.’s 70-year-old billionaire founder, said he would prefer to be succeeded by a woman as it would be better for Asia’s largest retailer. Yanai fueled the speculation not long afterward, telling an interviewer that he thought a woman would be best to take over his position and acknowledging Akaida as a potential successor. But when asked about his succession plan, one thing, in particular, is clear to him. Roger Federer (left) and First Retailing CEO Tadashi Yanai. Uniqlo is a Clothing chain that is known for its commitment to promoting women. Introducing Billboard & American Express’ 2016 Women in Music Awards|Inspiring a Generation – Watch Video, Introducing Angie Cox – Author, Philanthropist, and Child Advocate. Uniqlo founder Tadashi Yanai and Susan Sarandon. Tadashi Yanai, the billionaire founder of Japan’s Uniqlo retail empire, has said that he would prefer his successor to be female. After joining Uniqlo in 2001, Akaida worked at stores in areas ranging from Tokyo's posh Ginza district and Shanghai to Niigata Prefecture. And although sales in Asia remain strong, U.S. expansion is on hold after Yanai shelved a 2012 goal to open 1,000 Uniqlo stores in the U.S.—it currently has 50. to learn how you can update your cookie settings. PUMA Signs Kareena Kapoor Khan as New Brand Ambassador, 5 New Ways Leaders Can Support Women During COVID-19, GC4W Salutes Mazie Hirono, First Asian-American Woman to Be Elected to the U.S. Senate, Join the GC4W Entrepreneurship Advanced Program for Women, Apply to the GC4W Entrepreneurship Program. The World Economic Forum ranks Japan at No.

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