November 15, 2022

The Japanese Communist Party on November 14 made an urgent demand to the government to take countermeasures against a possible situation in which many part-time researchers at national universities and research institutions will be forced out of their jobs at the end of March 2023.

Mass layoffs of researchers will undoubtedly spur the decline in Japan's research quality and capacity.

The Labor Contract Act obliges employers to offer indefinite contracts to fixed-term employees after five years of service, and after ten years of service for fixed-term researchers.

According to the Education Ministry, 4,489 limited-term researchers at national research institutes will complete ten years of service in April 2023. A possible mass termination of their contracts at the end of March 2023 in order to shirk away from the legal stipulation is becoming the issue.

JCP Dietmembers Kira Yoshiko (House of Councilors) and Miyamoto Takeshi (House of Representatives) visited Education Minister Nagaoka Keiko and handed her a written request demanding that the government: instruct national universities and research institutions to refrain from terminating the contracts of nearly 4,500 researchers; earmark a budget to protect researchers' employment; and increase the number of open-ended full-time posts at national institutions.

Nagaoka told them that the ministry sent a notice which states that a termination of contracts before the 10-year employment period is "not desirable in the light of the purpose of the law" to each national research institute on November 7.

Past related articles:
> 4,500 non-regular researchers at national universities and research institutes may face dismissals [May 18, 2022]
> Neoliberalism spoils Japan's world ranking in academic research area to 11th from previous ranking of 4th [April 4, 2022]