The Japan Labor Flash
No.30
Email Journal Janualy 17, 2005
Statistical Reports
Recent Statistical Survey Reports
Current Topics
In their New Year addresses, leaders of three business organizations
demand that structural reforms be accelerated …etc.
Public Policies
The "New-New Angel Plan" decided
Public Policies
Sony holds standardized tests for job applicants in Japan, China
and South Korea …etc.
Public Policies
FY2005 budget remains tight for 4 years in a row
Statistical Reports
-Recent Statistical Survey Reports December 2004-
Features
Survey on Labor Economy Trends (November 2004)
Basic Survey on Labor Unions (2004) ...etc.
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/esaikin/2004/e2004-12.htm
Current Topics
-In their New Year addresses, leaders of three business organizations
demand that structural reforms be accelerated-
Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of Nippon Keidanren (the Japan Business
Federation), commented, in his New Year speech, that "making bold
and sound declarations looking ten or twenty years into the future,
to prepare for worldwide challenges such as global environmental
issues and the dwindling population," are being called for in today's
Japan.
Similarly, Kakutaro Kitashiro, chairman of Keizai Doyukai (the
Japan Association of Corporate Executives) pointed out that Japan's
taxation, social security and other systems suffer from severe
overloading, and called for the creation of a society initiated by
the private sector and run by a small and efficient government.
The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry's chairman, Nobuo Yamaguchi,
for his part, demanded that, over the next year or two, the government
place emphasis on economic recovery, and be extremely careful about
policies that might weaken consumer spending or corporate vitality.
-The number of totally unemployed people falls below 3 million-
The total unemployment rate for November 2004 (seasonally adjusted
values) released at the end of last year by the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications was 4.5%, down 0.2% from the previous
month and improving to the level posted 5 years and 10 months ago.
The number of totally unemployed people was 2.9 million, or 400,000
fewer than in the same month of the previous year.
November's effective job-opening-to-application ratio (seasonally
-adjusted values) continued improving to 0.92. However, the number
of successful job placements accounted at low level of 21% of the
number of new job openings. This was 2.3 percentage points lower
than the previous year, showing that employment mismatches still
remain unresolved.
Public Policies
-The "New-New Angel Plan" decided-
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare decided on implementing
the New-New Angel Plan, a 5-year program to counter the falling
birthrate, which the government will tackle beginning FY2005.
As for specific implementation guidelines, the Plan has set forth
the following four major themes: (1) encouraging the independence
of youths and fostering physically and mentally strong children,
(2) supporting people in working and raising a family at the same
time, and reexamining their work patterns, (3) promoting awareness
and understanding of the importance of human life and of the role
of families, and (4) new forms of mutual support and solidarity
related to child rearing.
As for numerical targets cited by the Plan, the average time men
spend doing housework and childcare each day will be increased from
the current 48 minutes to about two hours, which is comparable to
that of other industrialized countries. To meet this goal, the
percentage of men in their 30s who work long hours--60 hours or more
per week--will be reduced to one-half of the current 23%. Moreover,
the percentage of men who currently take childcare leave will be
increased from the current 0.3% to 10%, and that of women, from 40%
to 80%.
The number of children who will be admitted to daycare facilities
will be increased from this FY's goal of 2.03 million to 2.15 million.
The New Angel Plan, focusing on childcare support, is planned to
end this fiscal year. The New-New Angel Plan has shifted to a policy
of placing greater emphasis on community and corporate activities,
and cites specific numerical targets even for corporate programs.
The aim is to raise the rate of corporate workers' acquisition of
annual pay leave to at least 55% (the rate for FY2003 was 47%), and
to increase the percentage of corporations that include childcare
leave systems in their employment regulations to 100% (the share for
FY2002 was 61%).
Moreover, to encourage middle and high school students to perceive
childcare as an enjoyable, fun-filled experience, the Plan will offer
opportunities for these young people to come into contact with infants
and toddlers at daycare and other facilities. New ideas are also being
incorporated, such as setting up bases for community childcare support
/assistance.
The New-New Angel Plan reflects the Ministry's sense of crisis
experienced after discovering that they could not put an end to the
decline in the number of children just by implementing past plans.
They are now calling on society as a whole to carry out more measures.
Public Policies
-Sony holds standardized tests for job applicants in Japan, China
and South Korea-
Sony has decided to unify their system of screening tests for job
applicants in Japan, China and South Korea. The same written test
will be used in these three countries to select students based on
identical evaluation criteria.
The company has unified the content of the problems posed in the
"objectivity test" that assesses a student's logical thinking
capabilities and creativity. This will serve as evaluation criteria
that are equally important as interviews in selecting prospective
employees. The same written tests used in all three countries are
taken by applicants for both clerical and technical posts. Sony began
implementing this system to hire students scheduled to join the company
in FY2005.
(Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, December)
-Introduction of the discretionary labor system meets with different
degrees of interest-
Corporate personnel departments are studying ways, through trial
and error and through face-to-face discussions with labor unions, to
establish a salary system that accurately reflects an employee's job
performance.
In 1998, Kawasaki Heavy Industries applied a discretionary labor
system to part of their development department. In 2002, it expanded
the scope of coverage to include the planning and administrative
departments. Whether or not to introduce the system will be decided
by groups, and "imputed or deemed working hours" of 8 to 10
hours
will be determined, depending on job description. Monthly allowances
and end-of-term additional allowances are also provided. However,
although the company has 3,500 qualified individuals, only about 330
people, or less than 10%, actually use the system. Many employees
complain that the program is unfair, since, although the amount of
work differs from department to department, an across-the-board
allowance is provided.
A survey by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare revealed
that, as of January 2004, only 2.5% of specialist-work-type
corporations and only 0.5% of planning-work-type corporations had
adopted the discretionary labor system. One reason is the complicated
procedures necessary for introducing it. However, companies are
exploring their own individual systems.
In FY2003, Seiko Epson expanded the coverage of their discretionary
labor system (which they had launched in FY1997 targeting the design
/development departments as well as system engineers and designers)
to include all occupational categories such as planning and sales.
The system applies to employees around the age of 30 (posts: up to
section managers and supervisors) who will register with the system
following agreement with their superiors. It now covers 3,800 of 5,000
eligible employees. Other than mandating workers to report to work
once a day, the company has abolished the time management system.
Employees receive 50,000 yen each month in place of overtime allowance.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, December)
Public Policies
-FY2005 budget remains tight for 4 years in a row-
A new year, 2005, has started off. According to the Chinese
astrological calendar, this is the Year of the Cock.
The FY2005 budget that was finalized at the end of last year was
another austere one, for the fourth straight year. Almost all
expenditures, with the exception of social security costs, were cut,
and, for the first time in four years, the issuance of government
bonds dropped below the previous year's level.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2005/no.30/30_si.html
