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Drop in number of Japan’s foreign workers amid economic crisis
Brazilian community hard hit as jobs shrink and Japanese compete for vacancies The samba vibes that filled the streets of Kawasaki City in July were suitably festive, but their feverish beat failed to conceal the fact that Japan’s Brazilian community – the third-largest group of foreigners after the Chinese and Koreans – has been hard…
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Interac banned from Osaka prefectural projects
Cross posted from the General Union. Let’s all work together for ALTs to be directly hired. ———————————————– Interac has been found guilty of unfair labour practices by the Osaka Prefectural Labour Commission in July 2010 for refusing to hold collective bargaining with the General Union (full story here). Osaka prefectural ordinances prevent companies found in…
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Govt must improve foreign intern program
The revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law took effect in July, enhancing legal protection for foreign interns participating in a government-authorized training program. However, some observers say the revision of the law merely puts off dealing with the real problems. The program is said to be occupational training in name only, with some going…
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Meager pay keeps ranks of instructors in doldrums
It may not be well-known, but [Japanese language instruction] has also been on the rise, with more people than ever trying to learn [the language]. But the number of Japanese who teach nonnative speakers isn’t growing, partly due to lack of interest among academic circles and the low pay at private language schools that derives…
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A less-than-desirable ALTernative
An increasing number of primary schools are using assistant language teachers to teach English to children ahead of new regulations [making English education at primary schools compulsory] that go into effect in spring. However, most of these ALTs are supplied by third-party businesses, a fact that can lead to less-than-desirable situations in class. In Kashiwa,…
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Deaths show low-income earners most vulnerable to savage heat of Japanese summer
One 48-year-old man, who was once homeless but had begun working, died of what is thought to be heat stroke on July 26 at his un-air conditioned Tokyo apartment. On Aug. 15 a 76-year-old man in Saitama, north-west of Tokyo, died of heatstroke because he couldn’t afford the electricity to run his air conditioner. “People…
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Nissan to give temps some stability
Nissan Motor Co. will forgo using job-placement agencies and start directly hiring all temporary nonengineering staff in phases beginning in October in an apparent effort to provide employment stability to workers in line with a labor office request, company officials said Wednesday. Nissan’s move may spur other companies to rethink their hiring practices, analysts say,…
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Business English revives schools
The recent corporate trend of making English the “official language” within companies has given a tailwind to the formerly faltering English language school business. As a number of companies aim to establish or maintain a global presence, English language schools are working to develop educational programs more practical than those offered by their rivals for…
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Nissan to phase out temp worker positions in favor of contract jobs
Nissan Motor Co. said it plans to phase out clerical positions filled by temporary workers and replace them with contract positions beginning in October. The automaker apparently made the decision after it was instructed by the Tokyo Labor Bureau to improve its employment practices in accordance with the Worker Dispatching Law. Currently, there are around…
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Screeners question if benefits outweigh the costs
Concerns are growing over the future of a public program to dispatch foreign teachers to Japanese public schools as a key administrative reform panel has urged the government-linked body that runs the program to drastically cut its overall budget. But government officials in charge of the operating body told The Japan Times recently the recommendation…