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Volunteers offer jobless temps free food, advice
Temp workers who have lost their jobs amid the global financial crisis lined up Wednesday for free food and consultations with volunteers at Tokyo’s Hibiya Park. The event, sponsored by 20 groups, including unions, citizen groups and lawyers, will run through Monday. The groups served up rice and pork miso soup and offered employment consultation…
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Is Japan undergoing a downhill slide like ancient Rome?
Novelist Nanami Shiono has pointed out that Japan, in which the LDP picks the nation’s prime minister, is similar to ancient Rome, in which its consul was named by the Roman Senate. Such a system in which a small number of people are involved in the leadership functions may work if a country is growing,…
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85,000 temp jobs could go by March
Labor ministry estimate surges 55,000; work offers withdrawn from students up 130% The number is up around 55,000 from the previous estimate, which was based on a survey conducted in November by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. The number of people who have lost or will lose their housing as a result of job…
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Number of temp workers hits record high of 3.84 million in Japan
The number of temporary dispatch workers in Japan has hit a record high of about 3.84 million people, a report released Friday by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has shown. The ministry’s fiscal 2007 report on temporary work services found that there were 741,644 temporary workers on long or short-term contracts, and 2,795,999…
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85,000 non-regular employees to lose work during second half of fiscal 2008
The number of non-regular employees to have their employment terminated during the current half of the financial year is expected to surpass 85,000, a government survey has found. The figure, announced by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Friday, is about 2.8 times higher than the figure of 30,067 that was announced on…
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Temps a threatened species as job cuts bite
One of the biggest [problems that temp workers face] is what experts have dubbed “The Year 2009 Problem.” The three-year contracts many temps signed in 2006 will run out next year. After media reports exposed the unfair hiring practices of such major manufacturers as Panasonic Corp. and Canon Inc., many workers signed three-year contracts in…
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Tax bureau accused of breaking labor law over management of contracted workers
The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau has come under attack for allegedly giving orders to contract employees at its dormitories who are not directly under its control — an act that allegedly constitutes disguised contract labor, which is prohibited under the Employment Security Law. The custodians of the bureau’s 27 dormitories for single employees in Tokyo,…
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How does the employment insurance system work?
Question: About how much are the unemployment benefit payments? Answer: The amount of compensation one can get through the employment insurance system depends on several factors. First, the system looks at a person’s income, minus bonuses and other benefits, over the six months before the person lost their job. This figure is divided by 180…
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Foreign temporary workers hit hard by layoffs speak out
Among the ranks of temporary workers, foreigners, who face a language barrier, are particularly vulnerable to Japan’s worsening economy, and on Sunday some 200 of those workers took to the streets of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture in an unprecedented demonstration. The protesters called for greater job security and decried the sudden layoffs of temporary workers, which…
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Foreigners march for job security
About 250 non-Japanese staged a protest march Sunday on the streets of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, to call for employment and assistance for foreign temporary workers who have lost their jobs to the deepening recession. They urged companies to stop firing temp workers. Manufacturers have announced plans in recent weeks to lay off large numbers of…