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Japan’s Shrinking Workforce Spurs Shift to Full-Time Employees
Masahiko Tanabe’s life has changed since Japanese homeware retailer The Loft Co. made him a permanent employee and gave him a 10 percent raise. “This is kind of a luxury to me,” said the former temporary shop assistant. “I used to buy fish for dinner; now I buy meat.” As aging employees retire, Japan’s labor…
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Helping hand for immigrants
Hope seen in plan to promote Japanese-language education, visas Under the plan, the rights of immigrants, defined by the U.N. as people who live outside their home country more than 12 months, would be bolstered and efforts made to make life more convenient for them here. Those already in Japan would receive the same benefits…
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Japanese Are Loath To Rebuild Workforce Through Immigration
Politicians Avoid Issue They See as Toxic When threatened by soaring oil prices in the 1970s, Japan’s response was swift, smart and successful. It transformed itself into the most efficient user of energy in the developed world, thanks to government leadership, engineering skill and a public that embraced conservation. Now Japan faces a much more…
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Arbitrary rulings equal bad PR
In principle, people of moral fiber and legal solvency qualify after 10 years’ consecutive stay – half that if you are deemed to have “contributed to Japan.” For those with Japanese spouses or descendants (“Nikkei” Brazilians, for example), three to five consecutive years are traditionally sufficient. That’s pretty long. The world’s most famous PR, the U.S.…
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SAITU Strikes Back at Simul International
This week marks the first week of industrial action at language school Simul International, the first in its history. Tony and his fellow members have shown tremendous courage with surgical strikes nearly every day on the demand to be enrolled in Shakai Hoken health and pension. Foreign workers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance…
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Osaka Labor Bureau to report NOVA, ex-boss Sahashi to public prosecutors
The Osaka Labor Bureau has decided to send documents to public prosecutors accusing collapsed English school NOVA and its former president, Nozomu Sahashi, of violating the Labor Standards Law by failing to pay workers’ wages. The bureau has obtained information on NOVA’s financial status from a preservation administrator for the firm, and is continuing an…
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Foreigners march for worker rights
Workers from all parts of the globe battled wind and rain Sunday to give speeches, performances and then trudge through the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo, calling for job security and equality for all. “This march is about raising people’s awareness about the job situation in Japan, especially for foreigners,” said an American woman dressed as…
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Japan Mulls Importing Foreign Workers
The prospect of a shrinking, rapidly aging population is spurring a debate about whether Japan is so insular that it once barred foreigners from its shores for two centuries should open up to more foreign workers. Japan’s 2 million registered foreigners, 1.57 percent of the population, are at a record high but minuscule compared with…
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Gov’t looks to open up pension plan to part-time workers
The ruling coalition and government are discussing the possibility of allowing part-timers who work for an employer for more than a certain period to join the pension system, sources said. Currently, companies are obliged to pay a half of pension premiums for their part-time employees who work more than 30 hours a week [sic]. Earlier,…
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Temp staff violations to lead to suspension
A major Osaka-based subcontractor is facing a business suspension order after it continued to dispatch temporary staff in violation of the Workers’ Dispatch Law, sources said. They said the suspension order, to be served as early as this week, will cover all 84 offices of Collaborate Co., and will likely see the manufacturing subcontractor’s business…