The Japan Labor Flash No.82
Email Journal April 16, 2007
JILPT Information
Statistical Reports
Recent Statistical Survey Reports
TANKAN
Current Topics
Japan Association of Corporate Executives Proposes Measures to Rectify
Inequalities
Retirement Allowances of Regular Workers
Public Policies
"Web Design" to Be Added to List of Occupations Subject to Certified
Exams
MHLW Draws Up Vocational Ability Evaluation Standards for Home Care
Services and Other Industries
News Clippings
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.,Ltd. Starts Home-Based Work for
30,000 Employees
Leading Firms Now See Female Workers as Long-Term Labor Resources
Special Issue
Spring for Young People
JILPT Information
JILPT Report ------ March, 2007 released
"2005 Survey Results of Labor-Management Relations, Human Resource
Management and Working Conditions in Foreign Affilated Companies
in Japan"
You can see it on our websit.
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/documents/JILPTRNo4.pdf
We will also provide a copy of that Report upon your request.
Please contact our e-mail.
Statistical Reports
-Recent Statistical Survey Reports-
Features
4th-round Follow-up Survey on Adults in the 21st Century
(Continuous Survey on the livelihoods of the Japanese citizens)
Report on Situation of Foreign Employees (June 2006)
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/esaikin/2007/e2007-03.htm
-TANKAN-
Short-term Economic Survey of Entereprises in Japan
-April 2, Monday, released by the Bank of Japan
http://www.boj.or.jp/en/type/stat/boj_stat/tk/yoshi/tk0703.htm
Current Topics
-Japan Association of Corporate Executives Proposes Measures to Rectify
Inequalities-
At the end of March, the Japan Association of Corporate Executives
drew up a set of proposals entitled "Discussion of Economic Inequalities
Viewing the Society of the Future." In its proposals, the Association,
noting that current discussions of economic inequalities are confusing,
admits the existence of inequalities requiring action at the policy
level while also explaining that not all gaps are problems. Recognizing
these issues, it suggests measures to rectify inequalities in
consideration of the fact that equal opportunities are not ensured,
unfairness exists, and existing gaps have the potential to become
entrenched. Based on these realities, the Association, asserting that
economic growth should be premised on rectification of inequalities,
cites the offering of various employment opportunities and the improvement
of HRM skills as corporate efforts in social responsibility.
-Retirement Allowances of Regular Workers-
At the end of March, Nippon Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation)
published the findings of a survey on retirement allowances and pensions
as of September 2006 which targeted 2,066 affiliated and other firms
(effective returns totaled 294). According to the findings, the average
retirement allowance paid to regular male workers, college or university
graduates who were office or engineering workers in managerial posts
and retired in accordance with the mandatory retirement age of 60, was
24.9 million yen, equivalent to 42.6 months of their monthly salary (an
increase of 550,000 yen from the previous survey conducted in 2004,
equivalent to 1.1 months of their monthly salary). The average
retirement allowance for similar workers who were high school graduates
was 21.89 million yen, equivalent to 43.95 months of their monthly
salary (a drop of 90,000 yen from the 2004 survey, equivalent to 11
months of their monthly salary). The average retirement allowance for
high-school graduated production workers was 19.34 million yen,
equivalent to 46.5 months of their monthly salary (a drop of 530,000
yen from the 2004 survey, equivalent to 3 months of their monthly salary).
US$=119yen （April 16, 2007)
Public Policies
-"Web Design" to Be Added to List of Occupations Subject to Certified
Exams-
At a cabinet meeting held on March 30, the Government decided on
proposed government decrees partially amending the order enforcing
the Human Resources Development Promotion Law. Through this amendment,
the Government aims to add "web design" to the list of occupations subject
to officially certified examinations, and to have officially designated
private bodies carry out the examinations. This decision of the Government
is based on the recognition that web design requires advanced techniques
and expertise and that it is becoming more important to secure human
resources in this field. The Government will take necessary steps to
amend enforcement regulations of the Human Resources Development Promotion
Law; designate organizations to be responsible for the examinations; and
set class categories for the examinations, fees, etc. The number of
occupations subject to certified examinations, when web design is included,
will total 138.
-MHLW Draws Up Vocational Ability Evaluation Standards for Home Care
Services and Other Industries-
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has so far drawn up
vocational ability evaluation standards, in line with its policy to
establish social infrastructure where vocational ability is appropriately
evaluated, for 23 job descriptions, from administrative work such as
accounting and personnel management to technical and skill-related
work in the electrical machinery and appliance manufacturing industries.
At the end of March, the Ministry also finished drawing up vocational
ability evaluation standards for the cleaning business, home healthcare
services, bowling alleys, photo studios, and the light-metal product
manufacturing industry. These standards were designed by dividing the
vocational ability and knowledge necessary for the execution of work
duties into four grades. Evaluation standards are provided for three
job descriptions in the cleaning business, i.e. business management,
factory, and sales, and five job descriptions for home healthcare
services, i.e. management of healthcare services (at headquarters and
business establishments), home care services, commuting care services,
and home bathing services.
News Clippings
-Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Starts Home-Based Work for
30,000 Employees-
In April Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. adopted a system,
intended for an unprecedented level (in Japan) of some 30,000 workers,
allowing employees to work at home. Of approximately 76,000 employees
of Matsushita and its 23 major group companies, almost all white-collar
workers - system engineers, and those engaged in sales, planning, and
personnel management - are eligible to participate in the new system
(while those responsible for factory management, secretaries, and other
employees whose jobs require them to work on site are excluded).
Prospective users of the system are allowed to work at home once or
twice a week on the condition that working at home does not pose any
problems in carrying out their duties. Their wage levels remain
unchanged. Matsushita aims to put the system to use in securing human
resources by adopting flexible working conditions.
Those who wish to work at home are required to consult their superiors
and register for the system in advance. Candidates' applications for
the system are, in principle, accepted unless problems are found in
their attitude towards work. The company says that it will encourage
all eligible workers to make use of this work-at-home system.
This major step by Matsushita towards flexible working conditions
may heighten calls in the industrial arena for revisions to regulations
on working hours and various other traditional employment rules.
(Asahi Shimbun and Nihon Keizai Shimbun, March)
-Leading Firms Now See Female Workers as Long-Term Labor Resources-
Japan's leading firms have launched systems to make full use of female
workers as long-term labor resources.
Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co., aiming by fiscal year 2009 to increase
the number of female workers in managerial posts of section managers
or higher by 50 percent (70 persons) of the number in fiscal year 2006,
has adopted a system allowing female workers to decline transfers
requiring them to change their residences before their children reach
age 3. Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd. on the other hand, plans to increase the
number of female workers in managerial posts from the current 31 to
100 by the end of 2015.
Mitsubishi Corp. will rehire former employees who worked for the
company for three or more years and registered to return to the firm
at the time they are entitled to do so, though they have to return
within three years after their retirement.
Pioneer Corp. which already had a system allowing employees who quit
due to child-birth or child-rearing to return to the firm, has eased
its conditions and extended the length of absence from five to eight
years.
According to statistics of the Japan Institute for Labor Policy and
Training, in 2003 the proportion of the labor force to the female
productive age (15-64) population as a whole was 60 percent in Japan,
while that in the U.S. was 69.7 percent. The statistics show that the
female labor force in Japan in 2006 totaled approximately 25.6 million,
which implies that the number would increase by some 4 million if the
labor force participation rate equaled that in the U.S.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, April)
Special Issue
-Spring for Young People-
This winter the temperature hovered at a higher level than usual,
and abnormal weather phenomena across the country, such as a lack of
snow in normally snowy regions, frequently made the headlines. There
was concern that the cherry blossom season - the traditional, symbolic
sign of spring in Japan - might begin too early. Under these conditions,
graduation and enrollment ceremonies, which those concerned will never
forget as a major event in their lives, were held everywhere in Japan.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2003/no.82/82_si.html
