A cover of the Hokatsu no Kotsu Book
At the same time, Employee A lives in an area known as a daycare center battleground, where many children end up on the waiting lists for daycare centers every year. Even for the number of children that are admitted to the daycare centers, parents must also apply for an age class, which presents another major challenge. After facing the difficulties of making the decision about when she would be able to return to work, Employee A decided to consult the Childcare Concierge.
In her consultation, the concierge simulated the application procedure to apply for the age-zero class and to the age-one class while looking at the number of children admitted and the borderline admission score (minimum adjustment index of children who were accepted) the previous school year specifically in the area where she lived.
The results of the simulations showed that she only had two options for daycare centers that were close enough from her home and offered environments that matched the circumstances of her lifestyle. One option was to apply for the age-zero class. The other was to enroll her child at Recruit's on-site daycare center And's midway through the following school year for about six months, and after earning enough points in the adjustment index she could then apply for the age-one class that starts in April the year after next.
Employee A discussed with her family, then decided to apply for the age-zero class. Her child was then admitted to a daycare center, and she was able to return to work the following April as she had originally intended. About her consultation with the Childcare Concierge, Employee A said, "I received objective advice that goes beyond just my relation to the company. Based on my daycare center search, I was also able to receive counseling about how my husband and I plan to raise our child while working. The concierge was more sympathetic to my situation than anyone else who gave me advice, and I'm really grateful."
On-site daycare center And's
Copies of the daycare center admissions guides of various municipalities
Including Employee A, the Childcare Concierge has provided counseling to at least 150 employees regardless of gender since it was launched in August 2018. The response has been outstanding, as many have raved about the advice they received.
Employees can mitigate the hardship and struggle of searching for a daycare center by finding the approach that suits them individually. After around two years of experience internally, Recruit is confident enough in the Childcare Concierge to begin providing it to society at large. Launch is planned for fiscal year 2020.
Through experience with the concierge, Recruit has also learned through numerous comments that people want to do something about how rigorous the search for a daycare center has become. Working together with various parties including companies and municipalities who are sympathetic to this initiative, we want to turn the opinions of individuals into social innovations.
Diversity is all-inclusive. The Recruit Group wants to work toward changing society and empowering individuals from the perspective of diversity & inclusion as well.
*1 Licensed daycare centers: Childcare facilities operated in conjunction with municipal offices, which meet all criteria specified by the national government (facility size, number of childcare workers and other staff, meal preparation facilities, emergency preparedness, sanitation and hygiene, etc.)
*2 djustment indexes: Numerical indexes uniquely designed by each municipality to express the need of each resident family to receive childcare services. Children from families with higher index scores are given priority in admission to daycare centers, making these the most important indexes when searching for daycare centers.