WORKING TOGETHER:
Government and Private Sector Team up to Bolster Employment
January 15, 2002
As Japan moves forward with structural reform, the government and the private sector are joining together in taking measures to bolster employment. For its part, the government moved quickly in enacting a supplementary budget for fiscal 2001 (April 2001-March 2002) centered on employment-related measures. In the private sector, meanwhile, some companies have been considering the introduction of work sharing, a scheme in which employees work fewer hours.
Supplementary Budget Provides Assistance
The supplementary budget approved by the government focuses on three areas: (1) creating employment opportunities; (2) eliminating mismatches between job offers and job seekers; and (3) constructing a safety net. The nearly ¥3 trillion ($23.1 billion at 130 yen to the dollar) package, which was passed by the Diet in November, includes ¥1 trillion ($7.7 billion) for measures to aid employment and small and medium-sized businesses.
The supplementary budget also contains a ¥350 billion ($2.7 billion) emergency fund that will help municipalities hire additional workers. Local governments across the nation intend to quickly provide new jobs by hiring teaching assistants for public elementary and middle schools, instructors for computer classes, people that will collect and compost garbage, and monitors to spot illegal parking.
One notable characteristic of these measures is the fact that the public and private sectors are teaming up to help people find new jobs. Publicly-run employment security offices, known as Hello Work (site is Japanese only), provide information about job openings in private-sector firms. A computerized network can be accessed by computer or cellular phone. An assistance system has also been established for companies that are planning to cut their workforce; the government will reimburse businesses for 25% of the cost of using a reemployment assistance firm (up to ¥300,000 [$2,308]). Training for white-collar workers will be increasingly turned over to universities and nonprofit organizations.
For middle-aged and older white-collar workers who have lost their jobs, a new kind of "order-made" training system will be created with the intention of making reemployment easier by matching training with the skills desired by employers. For the unemployed under the age of 30, trial employment will now be an option. Companies that offer a prospective worker a three-month trial period of employment can receive a ¥50,000 ($385) subsidy plus training costs from the government. The aim is to have businesses train young people and offer them continued employment.
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In the private sector, meanwhile, both labor and management are expressing growing interest in work sharing. It is hoped that sharing work among employees will lead to the creation of new jobs and apply a brake to unemployment. According to an estimate by the Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development, if the working hours of regular full-time employees are reduced by 5% with a corresponding cut in pay, there will be 1.7 million new full-time positions and 470,000 part-time jobs.
Until now, labor and management did not see eye to eye on the matter of work sharing. The Japan Federation of Employers' Associations (Nikkeiren) took the position that it was impossible to introduce work sharing unless labor costs could be reduced--by such means as reducing the fixed hours of employees and cutting their pay or by making some full-time employees part time--with no loss of productivity. Unions were against any reduction in wages, saying that the issues of unpaid overtime and employees being unable to use their paid holidays were matters that must be settled first.
In November 2001, however, the unemployment rate climbed to an all-time high of 5.5%, and the worsening employment environment persuaded both sides to show some flexibility. Labor and management have begun working together and intend to release in March 2002 a joint plan for introducing work sharing.
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Copyright (c) 2002 Japan Information Network. Edited by Japan Echo Inc. based on domestic Japanese news sources. Articles presented here are offered for reference purposes and do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government. |
