The Japan Federation of Employers' Association (Nikkeiren) and the Japanese Trade Unions Confederation (Rengo) demand that employment measures be beefed up

At his July 13 meeting with the Minister of Finance Shiokawa, Nikkeiren President Hiroshi Okuda announced his support for the Koizumi Administration's reform policies that focus on disposing of bad loans to revive the ailing Japanese economy. Okuda strongly urged the Japanese government to set up employment "safety nets" to deal with problems that are anticipated to arise during the course of disposing the loans. At a seminar of top corporate management held on August 2, meanwhile, Okuda proposed a plan to create over 1 million jobs during a three-year period. The plan calls for creating limited-term employment in sectors that have so far received only insufficient public services, such as education, medical treatment, nursing care, and the environment.

Rengo, meanwhile, filed requests to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Ministry of Finance, and other government agencies on July 11, according to the "Policy-and lnstitution-Related Demands and Proposals" which they had decided in June. Their requests were as follows: (1) establish an environment that readily allow both men and women to work and raise a family; (2) introduce measures to improve the working conditions of part-time and temporary workers; (3) promote employment creation measures and boost employment safety nets under the close collaboration of the central and local governments; and (4) introduce programs for developing vocational skills and competencies.