The Japan Labor Flash No.14
Email Journal May 1, 2004
Statistical Reports
Main Labor Economic Indicators
Current Topics
Japan ranks 14th in terms of quality of life
Public Policies
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare sets up numerical
targets for three employment insurance undertakings …etc
News Clippings
In the limelight: regular employees working shorter periods
such as three days a week or four hours per day …etc
Special Issue
How the 2004 spring joint labor negotiations evolved, and new
challenges
Statistical Reports
-Main Labor Economic Indicators-
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/eshuyo/200405/index.htm
Current Topics
-Japan ranks 14th in terms of quality of life-
The Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development
prepared "People's Quality of Life (or Affluence) Index" based
on
the 2003 version of the World Bank's World Development Indicators,
and made international comparisons. The Center released its findings
on April 2. The People's Quality of Life (Affluence) Index is divided
into six categories: health (Japan was ranked 4th), environment (13th),
the labor economy (13th), education (23rd), civilization (8th), and
the macro economy (17th). Each of these categories is made up of a
number of sub-indices. Evaluations are made by comprehensively
assessing material abundance and‘environmental power' (which is
inversely proportional to material abundance).
Of the thirty OECD member countries, Japan was ranked 14th.
By individual indices, Japan was ranked top in terms of average life
span, infant mortality rate, circulation of daily newspapers, and GDP
deflator hike rate (Japan had the lowest rate), but was rated the
worst in terms of per capita international tourism income, economic
growth rate, and cumulative government debt. Moreover, a strong
correlation was seen between the unemployment rate after 1995 and
the number of incidents recognized as crime under the criminal law.
The order of ranking was Luxemburg, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark
and Sweden making the Top 5. The US was ranked 7th, France and
Germany, 15th and 16th, respectively, the UK, 20th, Republic of
Korea, 23rd, and Hungary 26th. Turkey was 30th and at the bottom.
Public Policies
-The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare sets up numerical
targets for three employment insurance undertakings-
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare recently set up specific
numerical goals for the three employment insurance undertakings,
namely, employment stability, ability development, and employment
welfare. This was in response to a call for an even more efficient
and effective implementation of these operations.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2004/no.14/3employmentinsurance.html
-The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare draws up a local labor
administration management policy for FY2004-
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare recently drew up a local
labor administration management policy for FY2004. The policy outlines
the following tasks: (1) securing and improving labor conditions,
(2) establishing and improving labor environments, (3) securing
workers' safety and health, and (4) programs related to industrial
injury compensation. The policy incorporates specific contents of
key programs and activities such as labor standard administration,
employment security administration, and active use of systems that
promote equal employment and resolution of individual labor disputes.
Of special note is that the policy cites specific numerical targets
for key employment security administration. For example, it sets,
as targets, raising the employment rate of job seekers at public
employment security offices to about 30%, and raising to about 12%
the proportion of individuals eligible to receive employment insurance
benefits who quickly become reemployed.
News Clippings
-In the limelight: regular employees working shorter periods such as
three days a week or four hours per day-
One company has designed a system that enables their regular employees
to work for drastically shortened periods. The system was introduced
to allow such employees to pursue their career and take care of family
affairs at the same time. Although a system of shorter working hours
was already in place, allowing employees to come to the office later
and leave the office earlier, the company went a step further to allow
even greater flexibility: employees can halve their hours of work or
increase their off days. The system is attracting interest as a new
style of work enabling the workers to design working formats suited
to their personal and family circumstances such as childrearing.
IBM Japan established a new short-time work system in January of
this year. Employees choose a style of work from the following four
options: (1) work three days a week, (2) work four days a week,
(3) work five days a week at 60% of regular daily work hours, or
(4) work five days a week at 80% of regular daily work hours. The
base pay is cut by 30 to 50% depending on the reduction in the time
spent at work. If regular employees can dramatically reduce their
work hours while retaining their status, they can carry out fully
their family duties without interrupting their career.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, April)
-Pay hikes surpass the previous year's level for first time in 7
years; bonuses also increase-
Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc. conducted a survey on wage trends for
2004, and announced the results of its primary compilations as of
April 5. According to the survey, the average wage hike rate for
major corporations was 1.64%, constituting the first year-on-year
increase in seven years. Annual lump sum payments are expected to
increase for the second straight year.
A total of 408 companies out of 4,051 targeted companies responded
to the survey (265 companies sent in valid responses for wage hike
data).
The wage hike rate for all the industries (rate of increase of
monthly salaries), which was a record-low 1.54% the previous year,
increased by 0.1 percentage points this year. Likewise, the pay raise
amount increased over the previous year for the first time in seven
years, to 4,934 yen or up 262 yen. The wage hike rate in the
manufacturing sector, which represents 76% of valid responses, was
1.69%.
By type of business, out of the 26 business categories surveyed,
13, or exactly one-half, saw their wage hike rates increase over
the previous year. Electric appliance companies had the highest
wage hike rate of 2.02%. Their margin of increase, compared with
the previous year's results, was 0.65 points, which was also the
highest in the manufacturing sector.
US$=\110(April 30, 2004)
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, April)
-Fuji Xerox offers legal compliance education to its board directors
and managers-
Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. began offering legal compliance education to
16,000 of the directors and managers working at its head office and
affiliated companies. Participants use, as a textbook, "Introductory
Compliance for Corporate Employees" which the company had produced
jointly with Dai-ichi Hoki, and learn the laws and systems pertaining
to personnel/labor affairs, the environment, consumer protection,
fair business practices, and intellectual property, among other topics.
Tests are offered over the intranet within two months of the start
of the program, which participants must repeat until they get 80 points
out of a possible 100.
(Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, April)
Special Issue
-How the 2004 spring joint labor negotiations evolved, and new
challenges-
The remark made by Hiroshi Okuda, President of Nippon Keidanren
(the Japan Business Federation), "Isn't shunto, or spring joint labor
negotiations, a passe word now?" were symbolic of the general view
held by management this spring. Many came up with drastic proposals
to compress or abolish the annual wage increase system, not to mention
basic wage increases.
The characteristic of this year's spring joint labor negotiations
was that a majority of companies settled on a method for curbing hikes
in base pay and instead reflecting employee performance in their bonus.
Seen from the labor side, this trend constitutes another tough challenge.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2004/no.14/sjln.html
