Nissan CEO says Japan PM's target for increasing female managers too ambitious

TOKYO – Nissan's chief executive, who has long made a point of promoting women to management positions, says the Japanese prime minister's plan to boost female bosses to 30 percent by 2020 is too ambitious.

The participation of women in Japan's workforce is very low by developed nation standards. Women make up 2.9 percent of manager-level and higher positions at Japanese companies employing 5,000 or more people.

Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn is advocating that women make up 10 percent of Nissan's managerial ranks in Japan by 2017.

But Ghosn said Thursday he wasn't about to rush things, just because having women visible in management ranks has become more topical in Japan.

The proportion of women in management at Nissan in Japan is now 7 percent.