The Japan Labor Flash
No.47
Email Journal October 3, 2005
Statistical Reports
Main Labor Economic Indicators
TANKAN
Current Topics
Signs of Calls for Basic Pay Raises in the Next Spring Wage
Negotiations
Starting Salaries for New Graduates Slow to Increase
Public Policies
Mass Mandatory Retirement of Local Civil Servants: Baby-Boomers
to Go
Number of Male National Civil Servants Taking Childcare Leave
Exceeds 100
Public Policies
Autumn is becoming another recruitment season for new graduates
Training Workers to Engage in Agriculture
Public Policies
LDP's Unexpectedly Stunning Victory in the General Election
Statistical Reports
-Main Labor Economic Indicators-
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/eshuyo/200510/index.htm
-TANKAN-
Short-term Economic Survey of Entreprises in Japan
-October 3, Monday, released by the Bank of Japan
http://www.boj.or.jp/en/stat/tk/tk0509.htm
Current Topics
-Signs of Calls for Basic Pay Raises in the Next Spring Wage
Negotiations-
In September, the Federation of All Nissan and General Workers
Unions held its regular convention in Yokohama, Kanagawa. In his
opening address, President Nishihara called on the Confederation
of Japan Automobile Workers' Unions, the superior organization of
the Federation, to make a clear-cut, unified request for basic pay
raises in next spring's wage negotiations.
In the spring wage negotiations this year, the Federation demanded
the maintenance of the current wage curve, together with an additional
1,000 yen, while 321 affiliated unions and branches - about 70 percent
of all affiliates - demanded basic pay hikes. The Confederation,
however, decided to refrain from calling for a unified basic pay
raise. Eventually, 52 labor unions and branches achieved pay raises,
though the number of successful unions and branches fell compared to
the previous year. Out of all of the affiliates of the Confederation,
only one-fourth obtained a basic pay raise. Since the business
performance of the Nissan group has taken a favorable turn, the
Federation decided, where lump-sum payments are concerned, that it
would call for a higher amount so as to rectify inter-company
discrepancies in next season's negotiations.
In September, the Japan Federation of Basic Industry Workers'
Unions (JBU) - comprising company-based unions in the steel and iron,
shipbuilding, heavy machinery and non-ferrous metal industries -
also held its regular mid-term convention, at which it resolved that
it would carry out spring labor offensives biannually starting in
2006 (as embodied in the 2006-07 Basic Policy for Improving Labor
Conditions). In this policy, the JBU shows a strong commitment to
making a specific demand for a wage increase, stating that it would
make efforts to get monthly wages increased for the sake of "creating
attractive labor conditions" and "strengthening industry and
corporate
competitiveness."
-Starting Salaries for New Graduates Slow to Increase-
At the end of August, Nippon Keidanren (the Japan Business
Federation) published the results of a survey on starting salaries
of new university graduates. The findings show that the starting
salary for an average new university graduate engaged in office
work stood at 203,230 yen, an increase of 0.20 percent compared
to the previous year. The growth rate remains more or less the same
as the previous year. The proportion of firms which paid the same
starting salaries as the previous year fell slightly from 88.3
percent to 86.0 percent; even so, the figure has been more than 80
percent for four consecutive years since 2002. A significant
percentage (84.5) of the firms surveyed replied that the level of
their starting salaries was "more or less fair."
Public Policies
-Mass Mandatory Retirement of Local Civil Servants: Baby-Boomers
to Go-
In early September, the Cabinet Office published a report entitled
"Mass Mandatory Retirement of Baby-Boomers in Local Government Offices."
The report says that the number of "general personnel" in their
30s
or younger fell by about 10 percent, and those in their 50s or above
increased by about 10 percent over the past 16 years. It also
recommends that, in the light of the forthcoming mass retirement of
baby-boomers, local governments should ensure that know-how is passed
on to avoid deterioration of administrative services; reconsider
personnel management systems; and relocate personnel to better suit
the needs of local citizens.
-Number of Male National Civil Servants Taking Childcare Leave
Exceeds 100-
In September, the National Personnel Authority published the
findings of a survey on national civil servants (general track) taking
childcare leave in fiscal year 2004. According to the findings, the
number of those who took childcare leave for the first time in fiscal
year 2004 totaled 4,922 (males 122 and females 4,800), an increase
of 111 persons compared to the previous fiscal year. The number of
male employees in particular increased by approximately 160 percent
over the year, exceeding 100 for the first time. The proportions of
those who have taken leave to employees as a whole were 0.9 percent
(increase of 0.4 percentage point) for males and 92.5 percent
(increase of 0.3 percentage point) for females. The gap between males
and females suggests that creating an environment which encourages
more male employees to take childcare leave remains a formidable task.
Public Policies
-Autumn is becoming another recruitment season for new graduates-
An increasing number of leading companies have begun to engage in
recruitment activities in the autumn, in addition to the spring, of
last-year university students who are due to graduate. The labor
market for university students who will start working next spring
was favorable for the first time in many years, since many firms,
heartened by the business recovery, expanded recruitment. As a result,
an increasing number of students continue job searching even if they
have already been promised a job after graduation. Firms, on the other
hand, are scrambling for students: the crucial task for recruiters
seems to be retaining students to whom they have promised a post after
graduation.
This year, Itochu Corporation established a new recruitment quota
for those students who were unable to participate in briefing sessions
which the company held this spring. "We thought we would give another
chance to students who missed the opportunity to visit us because of
certification examinations or examinations for other companies, but
who still have a special interest in this company," said a staff
member of Itochu's personnel department.
In the meantime, Dip Co. Ltd., a company distributing classified
advertisements on the Internet, is focused on helping firms retain
those students to whom they have promised jobs after graduation.
This year, it launched a "business contest" for such students.
In this,
a number of teams formed by students who have secured a job after
graduation compete with each other in proposing new types of businesses.
A member of the personnel department says, "We started this contest
to help firms to secure good human resources on the one hand, and,
on the other, to help students think about ideas for companies. The
contest gives students a good opportunity to think for themselves
about businesses, partly because it requires them to do cost
estimations, and thus has proved more effective than expected."
(Yomiuri Shimbun, September)
-Training Workers to Engage in Agriculture-
Following the complete lifting of bans on participation of private
firms and NPOs in agriculture, PASONA, a leading worker dispatch
agency, and Wakayama Prefecture, among others, announced that they
would launch projects to train workers for agricultural jobs. These
projects aim to contribute to supplying labor to private firms
venturing into the agricultural sector by conducting full-fledged
trainings on agriculture.
Where efforts to increase workers in the sector are concerned,
agricultural villages have already been offering opportunities to
participate in farming and training programs. But a special feature
of the latest project, realized in collaboration with private firms,
municipalities, agricultural cooperatives is to have trainees
experience all of the processes involved in agriculture - from
cultivating farm products to selling them.
Target participants in the program - that is, workers considered
suitable to engage in agriculture - are middle-aged and elderly
persons, since the baby-boomers who made great contributions to the
Japanese economy will be reaching their mandatory retirement age
starting in 2007.
(Fuji Sankei Business i, September)
Public Policies
-LDP's Unexpectedly Stunning Victory in the General Election-
Following the dissolution of the House of Representatives by Prime
Minister Koizumi, ballot boxes were open on September 11 for the 44th
General Election of the House of Representatives. The ruling Liberal
Democratic Party secured 296 seats, which exceeded a stable absolute
majority; together with its partner, New Komeito, the ruling coalition
has secured more than two-thirds (327) of the seats. In contrast, the
Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition force, secured only 113
seats, substantially less than the number it held before the chamber
was dissolved. The results were very disappointing for the DPJ, which
had been gaining ground and showing enthusiasm for taking charge of
the government.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2005/no.47/47_si.html
