The JIL Labor Flash Vol.7
Email Journal 01.11.2001
Statistical Reports
Main Labor Economic Indicators
Current Topics
36% of Young People Have Experience of Working Freelance/Part-time
...etc
Public Policies
Employment Measures Independently Adopted by Prefectures
News Clippings
Three SME Organizations Establish 'Help Windows' for Dealing with
Individual Labor Disputes ...etc
Special Issue
Strategic Personnel Management Activities Undertaken by Japanese
Firms
Statistical Reports
-Main Labor Economic Indicators October 2001-
http://www.jil.go.jp/estatis/econtents.htm
Current Topics
-36% of Young People Have Experience of Working Freelance/Part-time-
According to the "Workstyle Survey of Young People" targeting 1,000
respondents, conducted by the Japan Institute of Labour in February
2001, one in three people between the ages 18 and 29 have worked as
part-time freelance workers at some point in their lives.
According to the survey, despite the high percentage (38%) of
respondents who said that they became freelance workers as a strategy
for finding the type of job they really wanted to do, only 12.5% became
full-time workers after finding the job they wanted. Of the other reasons
for working part-time, 26% of the respondents chose to work to "pay for
tuition or basic necessities," and 22% said that they began working for
"no single reason."
Sixty-three percent of the respondents had considered working full
-time.Fifty-four percent of these respondents said that they had thought
about applying to work full-time because "full-time work provides better
conditions and benefits," while another 41% said that they have reached
an age at which they "would feel more secure" if they had full-time work.
Sixty-three percent of the respondents (75% of males, 47% of females)
have succeeded in finding full-time employment. The survey found that
the more effort the respondents put in from an early stage, the better
the chances were of their finding such work.
The survey also recommends the development of opportunities for more
extensive job training and provision of advice while people are still
in school to better cope with the increasing number of students quitting
school.
-Defined Contribution Pension Systems Introduced-
The Defined Contribution Pension Law (the "Japanese 401-k"), which
was formulated in June, came into effect this October, completely
redefining corporate pension systems in Japan (See The JIL Labor Flash
Vol.1 for more information on this pension system). Unfortunately,
the consequences of the terrorist attacks on the United States as
well as the outbreak of "mad cow disease" in Japan have placed downward
pressure on corporate stock prices and, combined with the continued
extremely low interest rates, made the timing of such a law the worst
possible.
Of the major Japanese corporations, Hitachi was the first to reach
an agreement with its labor union over adopting this type of pension plan,
which the company seeks to introduce by December. The company plans to
divert a part of its retirement benefits toward defined contributions
and also introduce a system wherein retirement benefits will be paid
out in advance to employees under 50 years of age.
Among other major companies, Toyota has decided to implement defined
contribution pensions in July 2002. The company has opened negotiations
with its labor union over the introduction of this type of system by
offering the defined contribution pensions side by side with defined
benefit pensions, with part of the retirement benefit being diverted
towards contributions to the new pension system.
Both Hitachi and Toyota have adopted 'defined contribution pensions'
to restructure the company's pension finances and cope with greater
labor fluidity. Both corporations and labor are still cautious about
fully adopting defined contribution pensions. Stock prices must recover
before this system is accepted more widely among other firms.
The JIL Labor Flash Vol.1
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2001-2003/2001/vol.1/401k.html
Public Policies
-Employment Measures Independently Adopted by Prefectures-
Acceptance of the 800-billion-yen supplementary budget for the
Japanese government's comprehensive employment measures for creating
new industries, ensuring a better match between labor supply and demand,
and establishing employment safety nets still seems a long way off.
As a result, 41 of the prefectural governments have independently drawn
up supplementary budgets this September to deal with necessary employment
measures.
Prominent among the priorities placed by the prefectural governments
has been the supporting of new business start-ups and providing job and
skills training. The prefectures have also set aside a large percentage
of their employment measures budget to provide loans for preventing
SME bankruptcies and to fund winter public works projects. Nearly half
of the prefectures have established an emergency employment measures
headquarters headed by their respective governors and have strengthened
job reference and information services to industries in their prefecture.
A by-product of these measures has been the reduction in the number
of homeless people, whose visibility in the parks and streets of Tokyo
became a public issue a few years ago. According to a survey conducted
by the government of Tokyo this year, the number of homeless people
has dropped to approximately 5,600, the second straight year of declines
from the peak two years ago. This drop is believed to be the result
of better private housing and job search support facilities and the
establishment of self-support centers by the municipalities.
News Clippings
-Three SME Organizations Establish 'Inquiry Offices' for Dealing with
Individual Labor Disputes-
The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Central Federation
of Societies of Commerce and Industry of Japan and the National
Federation of Small Business Associations have established 'Inquiry
Offices' at their national and local branches to deal with individual
labor disputes. This is in response to the October 1 establishment by
the government of a law for solving labor disputes (See The JIL Labor
Flash Vol.1) with the aim of dealing with the increase in number of
labor disputes between individual workers and firms and mandating
the establishment of a free labor grievance mediation setup.
Through these Inquiry Offices, the organizations provide advice
on how to prevent or solve problems that arise between Small and
medium sized enterprises and their employees, including those
associated with wage payment, work hours, work regulations, retirement
benefits, and pension benefits. The Help Windows also refer people to
lawyers and relevant government ministries or agencies for problems
that cannot be solved at the Offices.
While courts exist to solve labor problems, most SMEs choose not
to take their cases to the courts, because the costs and time associated
with the judicial system tend to be prohibitive.
(Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, October)
-50% of People Willing to Work after Retirement-
In August, Nikkei Research Institute of Industry and Markets conducted
a nationwide survey of 1,000 businessmen in their 20s to 60s to ask
them about their plans after they retire.
In the survey, 19.0% of the respondents said that they "look forward"
to retirement while another 34.0% said that they "look forward to
some extent" to retirement, meaning that over 50% of the respondents
have a positive outlook on retirement.
Over 50% of the respondents also said that they plan to work after
retirement, indicating that businessmen in Japan tend to seek self
-expression through work and believe in a "once a worker, always a
worker" approach.
When asked about life after retirement, 26.8% of the respondents
said that they plan to "stop working and enjoy life." The more than
50% who said that they will continue to work after retirement includes
10.5% who said that they will involve themselves in some form of
volunteer activity, indicating that a significant percentage of people
seek a different relationship with society than the one they have
developed through their current work.
Of the people willing to work even after retirement, 45.5% said
that they would like to work as long as they are able, 22.3% said
that they would work if necessary to pay for their bills, and 17.3%
said that they will try to do the kind of work that they always wanted
to do.
(Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, October)
Special Issue
-Strategic Personnel Management Activities Undertaken by Japanese Firms-
Recruit's Work Institute conducted a survey of the top 8,000
companies in Japan ranked according to their paid-up capital, number
of employees, and turnover in 1999 to determine the type of strategic
personnel management activities conducted by Japanese firms and the
future direction such activities will take. The Work Institute received
responses from over 500 companies.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2001-2003/2001/vol.7/management.html
