March 12, 2019

The density of public sector workers per 1,000 population in Japan is 36.7, far lower than France’s 89.5, according to the government data.

In the same data, looking at other major countries, for example, there are 69.2 public workers per 1,000 people in Britain, 64.1 in the U.S, and 59.7 in Germany.

Under the Abe government’s policy of cutting the number of national government employees by 10% in five years, more and more regular government workers have been replaced with non-regular workers. In the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, more than half the jobs are carried out by temporary workers. These workers, however, are forced to work for low wages under an unstable employment situation.

The public job cut policy promotes the privatization and outsourcing of government services not only at the national level but also at the local level. This has led to a cost-reduction competition among local governments across Japan, resulting in a decrease in public service.

The Japan Federation of National Public Service Employees’ Unions (Kokko-roren) is waging a signature-collection campaign seeking to push the government to stop reducing the size of public employment and instead hire more workers needed to deliver proper public services. The signature drive also demands that the government provide stable employment to public-sector non-regular workers.

Past related article:
> Number of working poor remains above 10 million for 12 years in a row [October 11, 2018]