Corporate craze for job cuts abandoning social responsibility -- Akahata editorial, September 5, 2001 (excerpts)

The biggest ever corporate restructuring based mainly on job cuts is likely to push the unemployment rate higher than the record 5 percent.

Information technology(IT)-related major corporations alone will cut 80,000 jobs, the highest number ever, including Toshiba with 18,800, Fujitsu 16,400, Hitachi 14,700, and Matsushita Electric 5,000.

Endless spiral of job cuts in recession

These are top-ranking corporations in Japan, and are the ones that were recently enjoying the greatest profits they have ever had.

These companies cite the serious IT-related recession as reason for the need of downsizing. On the other hand, management stresses that the market will recover by a big margin next year. (Matsushita President Nakamura Kunio, August 31). This shows how unfounded their restructuring plans to cut jobs for the reason of the IT-related recession are.

If major corporations are allowed to have their own way, the result will be an endless spiral of cutting jobs whenever the economy faces a recession.

Even some business leaders are alarmed at the trend of "jumping on the dismissal bandwagon."

Major corporations should employ social responsibility. Fujitsu President Akikusa Naoyuki in a weekly magazine said that corporate restructuring is not a question of management responsibility. This statement shows that the management is in moral decline in which they abandon their social responsibility to workers.

Fulfilling corporate responsibility for employment, to consumers, and regarding the environment will in turn help the major corporations to create a basis for their own stable growth in the future.

If their actions worsen the employment situation, household consumption will shrink further, which will adversely affect corporate performance.

If the recently announced plans are added to the outstanding plans, 160,000 jobs will be cut by 30 major corporations (Yomiuri, Aug. 29). In addition to this, NTT has a plan to cut 110,000 jobs.

Corporate restructuring will also seriously damage the local economies. The Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers' Unions estimates that more than 110,000 jobs will be lost in the car parts industry do to the ripple effect of corporate restructuring by major car makers (Yomiuri, Sep. 3)

Government must end support for restructuring

Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro whipped up the corporate restructuring fervor by saying that an increase in unemployment is unavoidable. His plan to allow major banks to write off their bad loans will further increase unemployment. This political course is what spurs the restructuring race, increases moral decay in management, and accelerates job losses.

It is time to change the political course from one supporting dismissals to one legally regulating them. (end)