The Japan Labor Flash
No.38
Email Journal May 16, 2005
Statistical Reports
Recent Statistical Survey Reports
Current Topics
Central May Day Rallies held by National Centers
Rengo Sets a 3,500 yen Minimum Benchmark in Wage Settlements for
Workers in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
Public Policies
The 2005 White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan
Emphasizes the Vital Role of SMEs for Job Creation
Public Policies
Adecco Expands Staffing Services
Target Numbers for Female Managers Repeatedly Modified
Public Policies
Urgent Solution Needed to Employment Problems among Young People
Statistical Reports
-Recent Statistical Survey Reports April 2005-
Features
Statistical Survey on business establishments and enterprise (FY2004)
Report on Employment Service (March and FY2004)
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/esaikin/2005/e2005-04.htm
Current Topics
-Central May Day Rallies held by National Centers-
Rengo's 76th Central May Day Rally was held at Tokyo Yoyogi Park
on April 29 with the theme "Creating a welfare society where working
people play the central role, building a free and peaceful world
through the solidarity of workers, and pursuing peace, human rights,
labor, environment, and coexistence." A total of 36,633 people
participated in the rally, with 202,900 people attending rallies held
across the country. Rengo issued a joint message, together with
participating NGOs and NPOs, while part-time, temporary and contract
workers, as well as freeters, held various gatherings.
Meanwhile, Zenroren held its Central May Day Rally at the same park
on May 1, drawing an estimated 43,000 people, according to the
organizers. Demonstrators voiced opposition to proposed changes to
Article 9 of the Constitution, which renounces Japan's right to wage
war, and called for a halt to labor shedding in line with the rally's
theme, "A consolidated commitment to the protection of the life and
rights of working people, and the realization of a peaceful, democratic,
and neutral Japan." Another May Day event was held on the same day
under the auspices of Zenrokyo at Hibiya Park in Tokyo. About 11,000
people attended the rally, the organizers said.
Although these rallies received coverage by newspapers and TV,
in particular the biggest one held by Rengo, the reporting seemed to
lack enthusiasm.
-Rengo Sets a 3,500 yen Minimum Benchmark in Wage Settlements for
Workers in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises-
As in the past, while wage negotiations by union members have been
concluded at most large corporations, they continue at small and
medium-sized firms. On April 20, Rengo's Small and Medium-sized
Enterprises Joint Struggle Center, to give a final push at the last
stage of the negotiations, set a minimum benchmark of 3,500 yen in
order to back up those small and medium-scale unions that had not
yet seen settlements. According to the third compilation published
by the Center on April 13, the weighted average pay hike among 1,691
small and medium-scale unions (with a total of approximately 173,000
members) that reached agreements stood at 4,108 yen, for a pay hike
rate of 1.62%, an increase of 255 yen compared to the figure marked
at the same period in the previous year. (See Current Topics in JLF
No.36.)
US$=\107 (May 16, 2005)
Public Policies
-The 2005 White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan
Emphasizes the Vital Role of SMEs for Job Creation-
At the end of April, the Cabinet approved a draft of the 2005 White
Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan, which was submited
by Shoichi Nakagawa, Minster of economy, trade and industry. The
white paper analyzes the role of small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs), and calls for the creation of vibrant SMEs in a society
which faces the prospect of a dwindling population and other changes.
Acting on the basis of various data that indicate that the proportion
of female and elderly workers at SMEs is substantially larger than
that of large firms, and that more than half of SMEs with 30-99
employees do not set an age limit on their employees, the paper also
emphasizes the importance of making use of elderly, female and young
workers augment the labor force, stressing such small and medium-sized
enterprises play a significant role in absorbing elderly people.
At the same time, the white paper suggests that more SOHO and
various other employment opportunities may become available in the
future, and also stresses the necessity of launching measures to
help SMEs, which are normally short of financial resources, undertake
personnel training.
On the other hand, the findings of a survey on the demand for
experienced workers in the labor market, released in mid-April by
the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (with 63,085 valid
replies), show that a mere 60 percent of job openings released to
experienced workers during fiscal 2004 was actually filled, and that
the "employment mismatch" among SMEs was as high as 46 percent.
Public Policies
-Adecco Expands Staffing Services-
In May this year, Adecco, a leading manpower supply company,
will transfer its staffing service from its headquarters to sales
representatives, of whom there are 700 in total at 150 branches
across the country.
Sales representatives have so far been responsible only for
placement services, but will now be assigned to engage in services
related to the dispatch of contract workers and staffing services.
The company will take advantage of this change to handle an increase
in job vacancies, and to exploit possible increased demand for
experienced workers at regional and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Adecco aims to boost sales of its expanding staffing service section
from 800 million yen, recorded in December 2004, to 2 billion yen in
this term.
(Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, April)
-Target Numbers for Female Managers Repeatedly Modified-
While many enterprises set specific targets for the number of
female workers in managerial posts, many of them have had unexpected
difficulty in achieving these targets.
In recent years, Teijin Ltd., a leading synthetic fiber manufacturer,
has been actively encouraging female workers to demonstrate outstanding
performance. It had a plan to triple the number of female workers in
managerial posts to 60 in the three years from fiscal 2003 to 2005,
but decided to extend the period to the end of fiscal 2006. The delay
in implementation of the plan is attributable to the failure to take
on the expected number of experienced workers from outside, though
promotion of female workers within the firm has still been on target.
"We could not achieve the target on time because we never compromise
ourselves just to satisfy the target number," says the manager in
charge of the plan. "However, it was not foreseen that relatively
few female workers qualified as managers would be available in the
labor market."
Surveys by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare also indicate
delays in promoting females to managerial posts in many industries.
The chief editor of a Recruit Co. Ltd. job information magazine for
women looking to switch jobs, attributes the situation to the
presence of a large number of female workers who opt out of the
labor market when their husbands are transferred, or when they have
a child. The editor suggests that, since firms have not seen it
necessary to train female workers for promotion to managers and
executives, they may have failed to sufficiently convey the
attractions of managerial posts.
(Nikkei Keizai Shimbun, April)
Public Policies
-Urgent Solution Needed to Employment Problems among Young People-
On the challenges posed by freeters, the No. 35 issue of JLF
featured moves taken by local municipalities, while the question of
middle-aged and elderly freeters, whose number is expected to increase
in the near future, was featured in JLF No. 37.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the number
of freeters, which stood at 2.17 million in fiscal 2003, has since
increased by 100,000 or so each year. With the unemployment rate among
males aged 15-24 hovering at a high level--in February this year,
it stood at 10.8 percent--employment problems affecting young people
have been getting worse.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2005/no.38/38_si.html
