Business Labor Trends

Business Labor Trends is a Japanese-language online magazine published on a monthly basis for free of charge providing up-to-date information on labor issues based on interviews with labor and management officials and analyses from monitoring surveys of companies, labor unions, and other organizations, as well as fixed-point questionnaires and interviews that track the actual status of workers' employment.

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Some of the articles are available in English.

• The "Long-lasting and Persistent" Labor Shortage since the 2010s—MHLW's White Paper on the Labor Economy 2024 (PDF:709KB)
• First Revision in 12 Years of Industrial Accidents Recognition Criteria for Mental Disorders: Customer Harassment and Continuous Engagement in Work with High Risk of Infection are Newly Added (PDF:191KB)
• 2024 Shunto: The First Wage Increase Above 5% since 1991 with an Urgent Need to Spread the Trend to SMEs (PDF:400KB)
• Freelance Act Comes into Effect in November 2024 (PDF:707KB)
• Measures Required to Achieve Sustainable Wage Hikes: MHLW's White Paper on the Labour Economy 2023 (PDF:1.1MB)
• Promoting Labor Mobility with Support for Workers’ Proactive Career Development: MHLW’s White Paper on the Labor Economy 2022 (PDF:959KB)
• A Record 12.65% of Fathers in Japan Took Childcare Leave in 2020
  MHLW's Basic Survey of Gender Equality in Employment Management (PDF:441KB)
• The Impact of COVID-19 on Employment and Labor
  MHLW's White Paper on the Labor Economy 2021 (PDF:1.38MB)
• Four Plans Setting the Course for Future Policy: Supporting Human Resources Development and Work Styles for a New Era (PDF:254KB)
• MHLW's Guidelines for Promoting and Establishing High-quality Telework (PDF:193KB)
• The MHLW Study Group Proposes the Direction of Employment Policy for Post-COVID-19 (PDF:171KB)
• The Fifth Basic Plan for Gender Equality "Toward a Reiwa Society Where All Women and Girls Can Thrive and Achieve Their Full Potential" (PDF:231KB)