The Japan Labor Flash No.92
Email Journal September 18, 2007

Dear Readers
Termination of the Japan Labor Flash
Statistical Reports
Recent Statistical Survey Reports
Current Topics
President of Manpower Supply Agency Arrested for Allegedly
Supplying Illegal Foreign Workers to Factories
More Than 40 Percent of Workers in "Miscellaneous Advertising
Services" Were Non-Regular Employees
Public Policies
Violation of Minimum Wage Law Observed in 6.4% of Business
Establishments Checked
MHLW Estimates Internet Cafe Residents at 5,400
News Clippings
Temporary "Arubaito" (part-time) Workers Hired on a Daily
Payment Basis
Minimal Lifestyle - Survey of Young People's Outlooks
Special Issue
Our Final Appearance

Dear Readers

-Termination of the Japan Labor Flash-

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Statistical Reports

-Recent Statistical Survey Reports-

Features
Basic Survey on Employment Management of Women (2006)
Basic Survey on Schools (Preliminary Report FY2007)

http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/esaikin/2007/e2007-08.htm

Current Topics

-President of Manpower Supply Agency Arrested for Allegedly
Supplying Illegal Foreign Workers to Factories-

According to Jiji News, on August 22 the International Investigation
Department of the Osaka prefectural police arrested the president
(aged 49) of Gunma Support, a manpower supply agency in Takasaki city,
Gunma prefecture, his brother (53) who acted as the virtual proprietor
of the company, and two other persons on suspicion of Violating
Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law (promotion of illegal
employment). They allegedly recruited foreign workers who had exceeded
their legal stay in Japan and dispatched them to factories and other
workplaces, registering approximately 150 foreign workers, chiefly
from Indonesia and Brazil. The suspects admitted to the charges,
saying that they wanted to secure personnel who were willing to take
on hard work at low wages.

-More Than 40 Percent of Workers in "Miscellaneous Advertising
Services" Were Non-Regular Employees-

On August 9, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry published
"The Preliminary Results of 2006 Survey on Status of Specific Service
Industries". Regarding the proportion of regular employees to workers
as a whole in various industries, the figure for "computer programming
and other software services" was more than 90 percent, while the figure
for "data processing and information services" was about 70 percent;
both industries are classified as "information services." On the other
hand, non-regular employees accounted for more than 40 percent of
workers in "miscellaneous advertising services."

Public Policies

-Violation of Minimum Wage Law Observed in 6.4% of Business
Establishments Checked-

At the end of August, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
published the results of concurrent checks of compliance with minimum
wage regulations conducted in June across the country. Of 11,120
business establishments inspected, violation of the Minimum Wage Law
- that is, violation of the regulation regarding payment of statutory
minimum or higher wages - was found in 707 business establishments.
This means that 6.4 percent of the establishments inspected did not
comply with the law. Violations were particularly common in
establishments involved in "the manufacture of apparel and other
finished products made from fabrics and similar materials," "laundry
services," "food processing", etc.

-MHLW Estimates Internet Cafe Residents at 5,400-

On August 28, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare published
the findings of two surveys, one on workers without stable employment
who have no permanent residence and another on short-term dispatched
workers. The former survey estimates that the number of people who
have lost their permanent residence and regularly spend their nights
at 24-hour Internet cafes (so-called Net cafe refugees) totaled some
5,400 people. Of these, approximately 2,700 people were found to be
non-regular workers. By age, the majority are in their 20s or 50s.
The latter survey, on the other hand, shows that the number of short
-term dispatched workers whose labor contracts are for less than one
month is approximately 53,000 among the ten temporary manpower agencies
surveyed. The average number of days worked was 14 days, and the average
monthly income was only 133,000 yen.

US$=115yen (September 14, 2007)

News Clippings

-Temporary "Arubaito" (part-time) Workers Hired on a Daily Payment
Basis-

Labor shortage is becoming a serious problem among retail businesses.
Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd. will adopt a temporary employment system,
possibly by this autumn, to hire "arubaito" workers for its 11,700
outlets. The company will register workers who have experience working
at its outlets, and then contact them to work at their convenience for
the stores with which they are registered when the stores need extra
employees. Working hours are flexible, registered workers can work for
only 15 minutes, and wages are paid immediately after work. This is
the first time a leading convenience store chain has fully applied such
a temporary employment system to all its stores.

Although the average hourly pay for Seven-Eleven outlet employees
is around 850 yen, hourly pay for "arubaito" workers who can manage
order placement and other jobs by themselves goes as high as 1,500 yen
at outlets in business districts of the metropolitan area where it
is difficult to secure student workers. Even so, shops have had
difficulty in recent years securing new "arubaito" workers, so that
shop managers themselves sometimes have to work in the storefront or
take on personnel from manpower agencies by paying twice the normal
wage, while some stores are obliged to operate with insufficient
personnel.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, August)

-Minimal Lifestyle - Survey of Young People's Outlooks-

"I don't need a car. I don't have many materialistic desires, nor
do I drink much. I'm not involved in a lot of activities, and I spend
my holidays cleaning and washing at home. So, my savings at least are

increasing steadily." This is the typical outlook of a young Japanese
person found by a survey conducted by Nikkei Research Inc., which was
addressed to their consumer monitors (living within a 30-km radius of
the metropolitan area) in their 20s or 30s. Responses to the monitoring
surveys were returned by 1,207 persons in their 20s and 530 persons in
their 30s.

The major reasons cited by those in their 20s for not owning a car
are "parking and maintenance costs too much" (42.0%) and "a car is too
expensive to buy on my own" (34.6%).

As for drinking, the survey found that one-third of the respondents
in their 20s do not drink at all, or drink only once per month, showing
a clear tendency among young people to lose interest in drinking. One
brewing company explains that the current generation of young people
seems to have fewer opportunities to drink with their bosses or superiors
than young people in the past, for whom this was a kind of tradition
when taking up a job.

On the other hand, today's young people are very enthusiastic
about saving; the average monthly savings were 56,800 yen among those
in their 20s and 59,700 yen among those in their 30s. The inclination
to save money seems to reflect feelings of insecurity, chiefly among
those in their late 20s who have experienced difficulty finding jobs
(so-called "ice age"), together with their lack of reasons for spending
money.
(Nikkei Marketing Journal, August)

Special Issue

-Our Final Appearance-

When making international comparisons of labor issues, one sometimes
finds it impossible to envisage the reality of a situation simply by
looking at statistics. Some knowledge of everyday life and the basic
attitudes of the people of a particular country help to deepen
understanding. Also, it often happens that the truths are hidden in
what cannot be seen. We have made efforts when selecting and writing
articles to convey these concepts to readers who are interested in
labor issues in Japan.

Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2003/no.92/92_si.html