Actual status of the rapidly increasing number of part-time workers

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare compiled the results of their Comprehensive, Fact-Finding Survey on Part-Time Workers for 2001, and released them in September as a flash report. The survey reveals the actual status of part-time work in present Japan.

First, the survey showed that there were approximately 11.18 million part-time workers, 3.2 million more than recorded in the previous survey of 1995.

Part-time workers accounted for 26.1% of total workers, indicating that one out of every four workers is working part time. In terms of gender, moreover, about 73.5% of the part-time workers were women, indicating that three out of every four part-time workers are female.

As for the reason for hiring part-time workers, 65.3% of all the companies and business offices surveyed cited the need to reduce personnel costs (versus 38.3% in the previous survey). This was followed by "to cope with busy time zones within the day," which was cited by 39.2% of the companies (versus 37.3% in the previous survey); "because the work was simple" (31.4% versus 35.7%), and "to handle a temporarily heavy work load" (27.3% versus 9.3%). These results clearly show that companies opt for part-time labor because of lower personnel costs.

As to why people choose to work part time, the most frequently cited reason among men (62.6% versus 46.3% in the previous survey) was to maintain their living standard, followed by "to provide extra income to assist with household expenses," cited by 32.1% of male respondents. The most frequently cited reason among women was "to provide extra income to assist with household expenses," cited by 59.6%, followed by "to maintain their living standard"which was cited by 42.6% (versus 30.2% in the previous survey). In both men and women, the percentage of those who cited maintenance of living standards increased substantially compared with the previous survey.

A total of 54.3% of all part-time workers were dissatisfied with, or anxious about, their present company and work, up a large 13.1% over the previous survey. As factors that made them dissatisfied and/or anxious, they cited, among other reasons, low wages (51.1%), lack of job security (21.1%), and the inability to become regular, full-time employees (19.2%).

Although 15.6% of all respondents workers wished to work full time, only 46.4% of the companies had a system for upgrading part-time workers into regular, full-time workers. The survey also showed that about 16% of all part-time workers adjusted their work schedules to prevent their incomes from exceeding the non-taxable income limit of \1.03 million.

The survey revealed the current status of corporations that were diversifying their employment patterns and rapidly increasing their hiring of non-regular employees. With respect to part-time work, meanwhile, the survey called equally on the government, labor, and management to investigate the treatment of part-time workers, press for better job security, and take on other issues, including the establishment of the required legal frameworks.