Office lady

An office lady (Japanese: オフィスレディー, romanized: Ofisu Redī), often abbreviated OL (Japanese: オーエル, romanized: Ō Eru, pronounced [o̞ːe̞ɾɯ̟ᵝ]), is a female office worker in Japan who performs generally pink-collar tasks such as secretarial or clerical work. Office ladies are usually full-time permanent staff, although the jobs they perform usually have relatively little opportunity for promotion, and there is usually the tacit expectation that they leave their jobs once they get married.

Due to some Japanese pop culture influence in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, the term is also in common usage there. However, the meaning of the word is slightly different. The term is also sometimes seen in Anglophone countries.

History

The first female office workers in Japan are generally believed to have been employed by the Bank of Japan in 1888 and by Mitsui Bank in 1893. From the Taishō era (1912-1926) to the early Shōwa era, the term shokugyō fujin (職業婦人, "working woman") was used to refer to women employed in tertiary-sector occupations, including professional, clerical, corporate, and sales positions. During this period, women became increasingly employed in professional and public-service occupations, including medicine (as female physicians), education, government service, and transportation.

By 1920, women accounted for more than 10% of salaried employees and were commonly referred to as office girls. From 1920 onward, industrial rationalization, the expansion of the service sector, and the spread of Western culture contributed to the diversification of women's employment.