March 25, 2016
Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Koike Akira on March 24 at a House Labor Committee meeting said that large corporations’ harsh downsizing scheme using state subsidies is unacceptable.
Koike reported that 78 large companies such as Sony and Cannon under their restructuring schemes are ordering targeted middle-aged workers to find new jobs by moving them to an outplacement firm, Nihon Employment Creation Organization Inc., which is an affiliate of Japan’s major temp agency, Pasona.
Koike said, “Big businesses are using Pasona’s affiliate company as a ‘banishment room’ to isolate targeted workers to force them to accept early retirement.” He, then, presented some examples of this tactic at the meeting.
A 48-year-old worker at a Fuji Electric subsidiary, Fuji Electric IT Solutions Co., Ltd, received an order from his boss to transfer to the Nihon Employment to find another career.
He resisted the order as a disguised form of dismissal. However, the company implemented the transfer by saying that the work he did is no longer needed. His daily job at his new office was to report to his supervisor on how many job applications he submitted.
Ulvac Inc., a group company of Japan’s major electronics maker Sharp, relocated its 50 workers to the Pasona subsidiary, including workers in managerial positions targetted for downsizing.
Koike demanded that the Labor Ministry investigate this matter and take necessary steps to rectify the situation. Pointing out that large corporations using this outplacement service company as an isolation room are subsidized by the government under the name of supporting labor mobility, Koike said that such a subsidy program is inappropriate.
The program provides big businesses with subsidies covering half of the cost of outplacing workers. In 2014, the government budgeted 30.1 billion yen for the program, 158 times larger than the previous year.
Labor Minister Shiozaki Yasuhisa said, “It is improper that companies move their employees unilaterally to another company and force them to change jobs. The ministry will probe into this matter.”
Past related articles:
> Labor minister to JCP Takahashi: subsidy program to help corporate downsizing should be revised [March 17, 2016]
> Union efforts push Hitachi to retract its ‘banishment room’ dismissal tactic [December 12, 2015]
Koike reported that 78 large companies such as Sony and Cannon under their restructuring schemes are ordering targeted middle-aged workers to find new jobs by moving them to an outplacement firm, Nihon Employment Creation Organization Inc., which is an affiliate of Japan’s major temp agency, Pasona.
Koike said, “Big businesses are using Pasona’s affiliate company as a ‘banishment room’ to isolate targeted workers to force them to accept early retirement.” He, then, presented some examples of this tactic at the meeting.
A 48-year-old worker at a Fuji Electric subsidiary, Fuji Electric IT Solutions Co., Ltd, received an order from his boss to transfer to the Nihon Employment to find another career.
He resisted the order as a disguised form of dismissal. However, the company implemented the transfer by saying that the work he did is no longer needed. His daily job at his new office was to report to his supervisor on how many job applications he submitted.
Ulvac Inc., a group company of Japan’s major electronics maker Sharp, relocated its 50 workers to the Pasona subsidiary, including workers in managerial positions targetted for downsizing.
Koike demanded that the Labor Ministry investigate this matter and take necessary steps to rectify the situation. Pointing out that large corporations using this outplacement service company as an isolation room are subsidized by the government under the name of supporting labor mobility, Koike said that such a subsidy program is inappropriate.
The program provides big businesses with subsidies covering half of the cost of outplacing workers. In 2014, the government budgeted 30.1 billion yen for the program, 158 times larger than the previous year.
Labor Minister Shiozaki Yasuhisa said, “It is improper that companies move their employees unilaterally to another company and force them to change jobs. The ministry will probe into this matter.”
Past related articles:
> Labor minister to JCP Takahashi: subsidy program to help corporate downsizing should be revised [March 17, 2016]
> Union efforts push Hitachi to retract its ‘banishment room’ dismissal tactic [December 12, 2015]
