Old News2 (Jan,2010-Dec,2010 )

02-December-2010 Job Market Bleak for Japanese Grads; Brighter for Asian Peers
If you're a fresh college graduate in Japan, your chances of securing a job are pretty dismal. The lack of employment options for young Japanese graduates has reached the proportions worthy of a national crisis: according to a government survey released earlier this month, only 57.6% of university students due to graduate next spring had secured employment as of Oct. 1, an all-time record low.
The tough times for students underlines the fact that Japanese companies are still cautious about hiring full-time staff amid uncertainty over the nation’s economy. At the same time, college students are picky about where they work ? securing employment at a big brand name is very important for most Japanese grads, which makes the supply and demand situation even worse. But there’s one area where demand and supply seems to be matching up: Asian students who want to work for Japanese firms and Japanese companies who hope to hire foreign students. As Japanese companies push to globalize their operations, they’re keen to hire more foreign students who speak languages other than Japanese.
20-October-2010 We may lose more than 3 million employments
The Nippon Keidanren has released their recommendation "inward investment promotion program"on what the Japanese government should do with their policy within 6 months to 1 year and to start the program as soon as possible. The recommendations said that " it is possible that Japan will loose 60 trillion yen of sales and 3 million employments" if manufacturing industry's production continues to shift to overseas and emphasized on the requirement for the Japanese government's inward investment promotion. It also said that the unemployment rate will increase by 5% from that of 5.1% in August. The recommendation also emphasized on reducing the corporate income tax rate from current rate 40% to 30% as soon as possible. About the yen appreciation issue, the recommendation required for the Japanese government's quick yen devaluation without any hesitation otherwise the Japanese industry will be seriously damaged.
14-October-2010 The average single woman's wage exceeds the average single man's wage
According to the survey in 2009 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in Japan, the average income of young single women under 30 is 218,100 yen, which is 2,600 yen higher than young single men under 30's. This shows that the manufacturing industry which employs many men having a hard time in employments and wages while the Medicaland Nursing care industry which employs many women increases their employments and wages. Although the wage between men and women in Japan are said to be a big difference compared to other advanced countries, this result shows some changes.
06-August-2010 The French get the most paid leaves while the Japanese get the least
According to a survey of the consuming rate of paid leave country-by-country report by Ipsos JSR Company and Reuter, the French were ranked first (89%), while the Japanese were ranked last (33%). The survey was conducted in 24 countries and 12,500 people participated in it. Argentina was 2nd, with 80%, Hungary was with 78%, England was with 77%, and South Africa and Australia were with 47%. Korea was with 53%, which is relatively a low rate. According to the vice-President of Ipsos JSR, 2/3 of the workers consume all the paid leaves worldwide. Young workers are apt to use more paid leaves than old ones and 60% of board members did not use any. He said that there are various reasons why they do not take all their paid leaves but main one is due to the workers?Esense of duty.
03-August-2010 The income disparities widened due to the increase of temporary employees
According to the white paper on labor and the economy issued by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on August 3rd, it was pointed out that the income disparities widened because the number of temporary employees increased due to easing of regulations, such as Worker Dispatch Law.
02-August-2010 Bernanke Says U.S. Consumer Spending to Accelerate
Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said rising wages will probably spur household spending in the next few quarters, even as weak job gains drag down consumer confidence.
30-July-2010 Unemployment rate increased for the 4th consecutive month
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on 30th of July, unemployment increased by 0.1% from the previous month. It has worsen over 4th consecutive month. It is considered to be influenced by the severity of the employment situation among young people. The job-offers-to-seekers ratio increased by 0.02, reached 0.52. The application rate got better for the 2nd consecutive month. There is some improvement in the recruitment of employees, but the employment is still in severe condition.
26-July-2010 Overtime work and payment are at rock bottom
Unemployment rate is more than 5%. The employment condition is still in severe. Compared to the same time last year, there were more work hours last month. The salary got better 3 consecutive months. The speed of the recovery from the current crash is faster than the one from 2002.
17-July-2010 The manager rate for females is 8%, increase by 1.1% from 3 years ago
According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on Equal Employment Opportunity Survey in 2009, the rate of female manager was 8.0%, increase by 1.1% from 2006. It is the biggest rate increase since this survey started on 1995. If only big companies are concerned, the rate is only 5.6%. It showed the environment is still not well prepared for women to work continuously. The section chief rate for females is 11.1%, section manager is 5.0%, and manager is 3.1%. They increased by 0.6%, 1.4%, and 1.1%, respectively.
16-July-2010 The rate of the listed companies on the Tokyo Exchange which solicited voluntary retirement decreased by 54%
According to Shoko Research, there were 66 listed companies which solicited voluntary retirement. It decreased 54% from the same term last year. The number of candidates was 10,687, which is a decrease by 30.3%. The result reflects the increase of the profit of export companies.
14-July-2010 A study group of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reported that It is necessary to make the work environment easy for temporary employees to become permanent employee
A study group of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reported on the 14th that it is necessary for permanent employees in Japan to diversify their work habits and make the work environment easier for temporary employees to shift to/become permanent ones.
14-July-2010 The number of employees increased by 310,000 people in June, an increase for 6 consecutive months
National Statistical Office of Korea anounced on 14th that the number of employees became 24280,000 people in June which increased by 314,000 people from last June. Compared to the same month of last year, it was the 6th consecutive month to have an increase in employment. It was due to the exporting business which improved the employment rate. The number of employees in manufacturing industry increased by 181,000 people.
09-July-2010 Recent Amendments of Japanese labor laws
  • Labor Standard Act

  • Labor standard Act in Japan was recently amended for the purpuse of maintaining workers' health and achieving work-life balance by seeking to limit long working hours. The amendment was started in force on April 1st in 2010.

    A. increase in the working overtime rate

    Under the amendment, if an employee works overtime and the amount of overtime exceeds 60 hours in one calender month, then with respect to excess, the employer must pay extra overtime compensation that exceeds, by at least 50%, the regular, non-overtime wage. In pther words, the employer must pay at least 150% of the regular wage for the overtime worked in excess of 60 hours per month. (The extra pay rate was 25% regardless of the number of overtime hours worked before April 2010) Certain "small and medium-sized companies" will be exempt under the amendment from paying the increased overtime compensation rate at least for the time being. WIth respect to the increased overtime rate required by the amendment(i.e., 25% of the regular non-overtime wage, which is the difference caused by the increase from 25% to 50%), the employer is allowed to give substitute holidays (daikyuu), which means giving employees days of leave at the regular wage rate instead of paying extra wages, provided that an employer first enters into a labor-management agreement with the employees to that effect. The amendment will not affect the statutory weekly holiday work extra pay ratio (35%) and late-night work extra pay ratio (25%).

    B. Employer's obligation to make efforts to increase overtime work

    Currently, an employer must enter into a labor-management agreement to have its employees to work overtime. Further, the employer must provide for special provisions in that agreement in order to require its employees to work overtime in excess of 45 hours per month. Under the amendment, if an employer enters into a labor-management agreement with the aforementioned special provisions, that employer will be obliged to stipulate an overtime compensation rate applicable to overtime work in excess of 45 hours per month. In that case, an employer is also required to make efforts to set the overtime compensation rate higher than 25% and to reduce the overtime hours exceeding 45 hours per month as much as possible.

    C. Taking annual paid leave by the hour

    Currently, an employee is supposed to take annual paid leave by the day. Under the amendment, however, an employee may take it by the hour, up to 5 days, if a labor-management agreement to that effect is entered into at the workplace. An employee may choose at his or her discretion whether he or she will take annual leave by the day or by the hour.

  • The Child Care Leave & Family Care Leave Act

  • These below started in force on June 30 in 2010.
    -provide child care leave until the child becomes 1 year and 2 months old
    -establish a short working hour system for those workers whose child has not reached 3 years old.
    -refrain from having overtime work done by those workers whose child has not reached 3 years old.
    -10 days of child nursing leave when workers have 2 or more children but 5 days if workers have a single child.
    -10 days of family nursing leave when workers have 2 or more families to take care of but 5 days if workers have a single family to take care of.
    20-June-2010 Japanese university students face difficulties in job hunting---80 E Eof newly hires by Panasonic are foreigners this year
    Japanese university students face difficulties in job hunting due to the fact that many companies are increasing the number of employees from foreign countries. One of the reasons is that the expectation for the future Japanese market is not so high while markets in other Asian countries and developing countries will be huge and it is necessary to strengthen business in those countries. The company "FAST RETAILING" which runs "UNIQLO" hired 100 foreigners out of 200 newly hires in 2010. Out of 600, they plan to hire foreigners at the same rate in 2011. Panasonic hired 750 employees in foreign countries out of 1250 newly hires. In 2011, they will increase the foreigners' rate and will hire 1100 out of 1390 people.
    20-June-2010 Japanese university students face difficulties in job hunting---80 E Eof newly hires by Panasonic are foreigners this year
    Japanese university students face difficulties in job hunting due to the fact that many companies are increasing the number of employees from foreign countries. One of the reasons is that the expectation for the future Japanese market is not so high while markets in other Asian countries and developing countries will be huge and it is necessary to strengthen business in those countries. The company "FAST RETAILING" which runs "UNIQLO" hired 100 foreigners out of 200 newly hires in 2010. Out of 600, they plan to hire foreigners at the same rate in 2011. Panasonic hired 750 employees in foreign countries out of 1250 newly hires. In 2011, they will increase the foreigners' rate and will hire 1100 out of 1390 people.
    18-June-2010 E Abstract from the Japanese new government's New growth strategy E E


     "Employment" and "Human Resource Strategy"

    -The employment rate of 20-64 years old will be 80%, while of 15 years old will be 15%
    -The employment rate of 20-34 years old will be 77%
    -The number of young part-timers(job hopper) : 1240,000
    -support NEET's employment: ( NEET is an acronym for "Not in Education, Employment or Training):100,000 new employees
    -Rate of employment of females between 22 to 24 will be 73% -Rate of employment of females who continue to work after giving birth to their 1st child will be 55%
    -The rate of child care leave for males will be 13%
    -The rate of employment of 60-64 years old will be 63%
    -The rate of employment of handicapped people will be 1.8%
    -0.8 billion yen order from government tohandicapped people's employment training facilities
    -3 million people will get job cards (to help them find new jobs in case of losing their current jobs)
    > -100% of internship opportunities will be for students by their universities -90,000 workers will be newly graduated university students, and 150,000 workers will be from vocational schools
    -self-development employees: 70% of regular employees and 50% of nonpermanent employees
    -70% of workers will use annual paid leaves
    -cut down current workers who work more than 60 hours a week to 50%
    -increase the minimum hourly wage to no less than 800 yen
    -increase average hourly wage to 1,000 yen
    -decrease number of work-related accidents to 30%
    -All work places will be able to provide mental healthcare
    -There will not be any secondhand smoke risk at any work place


     Full of children with a bright big smile

    -Better environment for anyone in Japan to give birth and raise their children
    -There will be no waiting lists for nursery schools
    -All the people who wish to work after they raise their children will be able to get their work back
    -Get world top scores in international academic achievement tests
    15-June-2010 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and Panasonic are hiring many fast-track bureaucrats for establishing new markets in developing countries
    Japanese big enterprises are hiring people from abroad as fast-track bureaucrats in sales division, R&D division, and design division. Panasonic will let newly hired foreign employees work in Japan for the first 2 years as trainees. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will increase foreign employment especially from Asian countries by 800 people every year. They will limit employment in Japan, but increase the number of employees in foreign countries in different industries.
    04-June-2010 107 complaints in 6 months over holidays to people raising children and providing nursing care
    According to the Heatlh, Labour and Welfare Ministry, there were 107 complaints in 6 months over holidays to people raising and providing children with nursing care.There were complaints from 99 femals and 8 males. 75 out of 107 complaints were about the unfair treatment of going on a maternity leave.
    28-May-2010 Number of troubles between employees and employers in China occur 3 times as much as that of 3 years ago
    Japanese companies in China are required to deal with the rapid increase of chinese employees' wages. Nihon Densan began to settle factories in inland China due to the increase of the wages along coastal regions.
    27-May-2010 Tax for employment of foreigners is going to increase from 2011 in Malaysia
    The Malaysian government decided to create a policy for a raise of tax for employment of foreigners. They will change its tax rate after they discussed with an industrial representative. It is certain that Japanese companies will suffer from the policy because Japanese companies in Malaysia employ many foreigners.
    25-May-2010 The application fee for U.S.A VISA will increase from June
    US State Department announced that it will increase the Visa application fee from June 4th. It was 131 dollars for any type of VISA. However, after June 4th, the fee for those hard to get visas will be set to a higher price. For example, the VISA for people who get married to American citizen will be a $350. And the VISA for those people who come to the US for import/export businesses or investment businesses will be $390.
    17-February-2010 Q: Is it possible to get both childcare leave benefit and family care leave benefit at the same time?
    A: No. Because according to the Family and Medical Leave Act, one of the events that ends the Child Care leave is to start taking the Family care leave. That means it is impossible to get both benefits at the same time. The employee who takes the Child care leave can get 30% of his/her salary and when they get back to work and works for 6 months after the Child care leave, they receive another 20% of the salary, which means 50% of the salary. He/She is also given remission from social insurance. However the employee who takes the Family care leaves get only 40% of his/her salary for only 93 days without no remission from social insurance. So if an employee is able to choose either the Child Care leave or the Family care leave, it is better to get the Child care leave first. If his/her family still needs to be cared after the Child care leave, he/she can get the Family care leave.
    15-February-2010 Q: Is it possible to get both disability/invalidity benefit and family care leave benefit at the same time?
    A: The answer is “Yes?Eas there is no rule or law to prohibit getting both benefits at the same time. But it is very hard for the people who get disability benefit to care for their family. So if your employer applied for family care leave while you receive disability benefit, you should review his/her doctor’s certification and judge
    03-February-2010 January U.S. Private-Sector Jobs Fell by 22,000, ADP Says 
    The labor market showed positive signs of recovering in January. Private-sector jobs in the U.S. fell by 22,000 in January, the smallest drop since February 2008, and service jobs continued to rise, according to a national employment report published Wednesday by payroll giant Automatic Data Processing Inc. and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers.
    31-January-2010 Payrolls Probably Rose at Start of Year: U.S. Economy Preview 
    The U.S. may have gained jobs in January for the second time in three months as the world’s largest economy began 2010 on firmer footing, economists said before reports this week. Payrolls probably rose by 13,000 workers this month, according to the median forecast of 50 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before the Labor Department’s Feb. 5 report. The unemployment rate may have held at 10 percent for the third consecutive month.
    29-January-2010 Japan jobless rate falls to 5.1 pct, job availability up 
    Japan's jobless rate edged down in December and the availability of jobs improved for the fourth month in a row. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 5.1 percent from 5.2 percent in November, government figures showed on Friday. That was better than median market forecast of 5.3 percent. The jobless rate hit a record high of 5.7 percent in July. [JPUNR=ECI] The jobs-to-applicants ratio improved slightly for the fourth consecutive month, rising to 0.46 from 0.45 in November. [JPJOBA=ECI]
    26-January-2010 UN: 27 Million People Became Unemployed In 2009
    Twenty-seven million people around the world lost their jobs in 2009, the U.N. labor agency said Wednesday, warning of a jobless recovery in a report released on the opening day of the World Economic Forum.
    25-January-2010 Companies in U.S. Plan to Hire, Spend This Year, Survey Shows
    More companies in the U.S. plan to increase payrolls and invest in new equipment this year as demand strengthens and credit availability improves, a quarterly survey of economists showed.

  • Old News (Jan,2011-Dec,2011)

  • Old News (Jan,2010-Dec,2010)

  • Old News (July,2009-Dec,2009 )