INTERVIEW

I used to shop at a Costco Warehouse in Montreal, Canada, where I was living at the time. It had all kinds of merchandise that I never saw elsewhere; and, especially around Christmas or Halloween, it was definitely the place to go to for seasonal items. I shopped there all the time. After I moved back to Japan, I remember being really excited to see my first Costco in this country. And it was just as exciting to walk around the warehouse here in Japan as it was back in Canada.

And one day I was looking through the ads and saw recruitment for opening employee at Kanazawa Seaside Warehouse. Of course I applied, right away. I always liked Costco as a place to shop. And I immediately liked Costco as a place to work as well. It was lively and international, with coworkers from all around the world. I enjoyed a similarly international atmosphere back when I worked overseas and it was great to experience it again.

I'm now raising three children while working as Warehouse Manager at Maebashi Warehouse. I've taken three maternity leaves. And, each time I returned, it all went so smoothly – same position, nothing changed, it made me wonder if I was ever on leave. I’ve experienced no special treatment in the exclusionary sense, nothing along the lines of “oh, you have small children, we can't ask you to do this.” And just as Costco does not discriminate based on nationality, age or gender, this new mother was able to come back and resume her work without any problem whatsoever.

This is to say that I did sit down with my superiors and HR to discuss such things before returning to work. I began by saying what I had to say, honestly and straightforwardly: “I would like to return to work; and if somewhere along the line it is not going well, can we just say that it is not going well and think about what to do then?” I asked it not negatively, instead I requested that “I’d like to take a try, and if it doesn’t go well but I might be able to continue with slight change of conditions then I’d like to ask you for coordination.”

Though, there are times when my time is restricted, when I have to, say, pick up a child. And when that happened, I talked to a superiors. And they arranged work time for me to be able to leave earlier sometime, while I should generally try to stay until closing time.

Costco has maternity leave and childcare leave. Of course. And a “shortened working hours” system, too. So, solid programs are in place; and employees are welcome to use them. But best of all about Costco is that we have people who listen, who understand, who offer their active support. And, because of this, employees can relax and concentrate on their work. I feel strongly about this, having experienced it firsthand.

When I return from maternity leave my job is still there, my position is unchanged. This helps to maintain a spirit of challenge, to remain open to new things. From here, I honestly cannot tell you how things will change for me in the future. I concentrate on my work and I concentrate on my children. Will I be able to continue to balance both into the future? And maybe something will happen, maybe it will become necessary for me to spend more time with my family. But then I think to myself – I work at Costco – I can adjust my workstyle – things will be okay. This is reassuring, it makes me all the more eager to pursue new challenges.