The Japan Labor Flash No.71
Email Journal October 16, 2006
Statistical Reports
Recent Statistical Survey Reports
Current Topics
Persons Aged 75 and Over Account for Nearly 10% of Population
Average Salary in Private Sector Drops for Eighth Consecutive Year
Public Policies
Ministry of Justice Steps Forward to Abolish Technical Training
and Internship Systems
Jobless Workers Receive Unemployment Benefits More than Once in
Three Years
News Clippings
"Maternity Leave" for Grandmothers
Ceremonies to Confirm Formal Promise of Jobs to Graduates
Special Issue
Abe Cabinet Inaugurated
Statistical Reports
-Recent Statistical Survey Reports-
Features
Statistical survey on Labor Dispute (2005)
Basic Survey on Industrial Safety and Health (2005)
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/esaikin/2006/e2006-09.htm
Current Topics
-Persons Aged 75 and Over Account for Nearly 10% of Population-
In mid-September, the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications published a document entitled the "Elderly
in Japan Seen in Statistics." The Bureau estimated that, as of September
15, 2006, those aged 65 and over in Japan totaled 26.4 million,
accounting for 20.7 percent of the population. Elderly males totaled
11.2 million (18.0% of the entire male population), and elderly females
15.2 million (23.2% of the entire female population). Elderly people
aged 75 and over - definable in gerontology as "old-old persons"
-
totaled 12.08 million, accounting for 9.5 percent of the total
population.
-Average Salary in Private Sector Drops for Eighth Consecutive Year-
According to the Report on the Survey of Wages and Salaries in Private
Firms in 2005 published at the end of September by the National Tax
Agency, the number of salaried workers who worked throughout the year
totaled 44.936 million, an increase of 0.9 percent from the previous
year. The average annual income per salaried worker was 4.368 million
yen-- of which the average bonus payment accounted for approximately
670,000 yen (bonus payments for males averaged approximately 860,000
yen, and those for females approximately 370,000 yen) -- a decrease of
0.5% from the previous year, the eighth consecutive annual drop. The
average annual salary for males was 5.384 million yen (a drop of 0.5%
from the previous year) and that for females 2.728 million yen (a drop
of 0.3%).
In terms of business size, the annual salary of those who work for
businesses with fewer than 10 employees averaged 3.56 million yen
(approximately 4.45 million yen for males, and approximately 2.5 million
yen for females); while for those in businesses with 5,000 or more
employees it averaged 5.61 million yen (approximately 7.29 million yen
for males, and approximately 2.67 million yen for females). Of salaried
workers, those who earned 3 million yen or less in 2005 totaled 16.92
million (37.6% of total salaried workers), an increase of 3.2 percent
from 2001, while those earning 1 million yen or less totaled 3.56 million
(7.9%), indicating an increasing proportion of low-income earners.
US$=119yen (October 16, 2006)
Public Policies
-Ministry of Justice Steps Forward to Abolish Technical Training and
Internship Systems-
A project team of the Ministry of Justice recently drew up a document
entitled "Basic Views on the Admittance of Foreign Workers in the
Future."
The team suggests that the technical training and internship systems,
and the system of preferentially allowing foreign Japanese descents
to enter Japan to work, should be abolished on the grounds that they
have been diverted from their initial purposes, and are being taken
advantage of, in practice, as a channel for firms to secure cheap labor.
As for unskilled workers (as opposed to specialized or technical workers),
it proposed a new system, whereby foreign workers might be allowed in
Japan, in consideration of the impact on the domestic labor market, as
"designated skilled workers" in industries where the comprehensive
conditions for their employment have been established. They must also
acquire a certain level of proficiency in Japanese, and their employment
contracts must be concluded with the firms for which they worked since
they entered Japan.
While the Ministry of Justice insists on drastic reform regarding
the issue of foreign workers, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
intends to deal with it by calling for strict compliance with the
existing systems and instructing firms to comply, on the understanding
that these systems have already been firmly established.
In the meantime, there have been calls among business circles for
an extension of the periods for which trainees and interns are officially
allowed to stay in Japan, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
is considering launching a new system to allow trainees with sophisticated
skills and proficiency in Japanese to stay for an extra two years, in
addition to the three years of the current system.
The Ministry of Justice aims to revise the relevant laws after discussion
with various ministries and agencies.
-Jobless Workers Receive Unemployment Benefits More than Once in
Three Years-
A survey of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare found that
workers who received unemployment benefits under the employment
insurance system more than once in the previous three years totaled
194,744 (3.4% of all recipients). (A certain proportion of the salary
which a worker received before becoming unemployed is paid if the
worker in question had paid insurance premiums for six months or
longer). Workers in their twenties accounted for some 36 percent,
indicating the practice, quite common among young workers, of
repeatedly switching jobs in expectation of unemployment benefits.
The survey was addressed to about 5.73 million workers who started
to receive benefits during the period of January 2003 to December 2005.
As the employment situation improves, the Ministry is planning to limit
the number of payments to repeat recipients and to encourage young
workers to settle down in regular jobs.
News Clippings
-"Maternity Leave" for Grandmothers-
In October, the Dai-Ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. adopted a unique
system to support child-rearing, allowing experienced female workers
to take ""maternity leave" when their grandchildren are
born.
The company has a total of approximately 46,000 female workers
(approximately 40,000 engaged in sales activities, and 6,000 in desk
work), and of whom more than 16,000 are aged 50 or over. The new system
is a response to their request to support the care of newborn grandchildren
by taking some time of day-off.
The system of "leave for the birth of grandchildren" would allow
future grandmothers to take a maximum of nine consecutive holidays,
a combination of special holidays and annual paid holidays, around
the expected delivery date. "It is rare for a company to launch maternity
leave for grandmothers," commented the Ministry of Health, Labour
and
Welfare.
(Yomiuri Shimbun, September)
-Ceremonies to Confirm Formal Promise of Jobs to Graduates-
Leading companies in Japan give formal job offers en masse to
students scheduled to graduate from universities and colleges the
following spring. While some companies hold parties to foster closer
relationships among prospective employees, as well as executives
and young employees, quite a few companies organize various events
somewhat practical for students whom they have promised to hire,
such as English tests, briefings on business routines, and factory
tours.
Among major companies, Honda Motor Co., Ltd, Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries Ltd., JTB Group, and All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. held
ceremonies to confirm jobs for students after graduation: the numbers
of participants in the ceremonies were 680, 500, 500, and 634,
respectively.
There is an unspoken understanding that firms hold these ceremonies
on the first weekday in October, at which they confirm the will of
students to join the firms. Due to the economic recovery, many firms
increased their recruitment of students due to graduate in spring 2007,
to the level seen during the bubble years. At that time, ceremonies to
grant them formal promises of jobs bore a festive atmosphere, and it
was not unusual for firms to invite students on trips abroad as a means
of holding on to them.
(Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, October)
Special Issue
-Abe Cabinet Inaugurated-
On September 26, Shinzo Abe, president of the Liberal Democratic
Party, was elected as the nation's 90th prime minister at plenary
sessions of both Upper and Lower Houses, and his Cabinet was
inaugurated on the evening of the same day. Mr. Abe, aged 52, is
the youngest post-war prime minister.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2003/no.71/71_si.html
