Japan Press Weekly

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2024 April 24 - May 7 [LABOR]

80% of non-regular workers in municipalities feel at risk of losing their jobs: union survey

The Japan Federation of Prefectural and Municipal Workers' Unions (Jichiroren) on April 24 published the survey results showing that 80% of non-regular workers in local municipalities are always anxious about losing their jobs.

According to the union, the number of non-regular employees in local governments stands at about 620,000, accounting for nearly 40% of local government workers. Of them, 45% are women. Although these non-regular workers are vital in clerical work and municipal services such as childcare, they work under a one-year employment contracts. In many municipal governments, the total contract period is limited to three years.

Jichiroren between November 2023 and March 2024 conducted a fact-finding survey of fixed-term workers in municipal governments.

In the survey, asked if respondents feel anxiety about losing their jobs, 76.8% answered “Very” or “A little”. The free entry section of the survey contained a comment of a non-regular workers in his/her 50s: “It is really stressful that despite receiving a high evaluation for my job, I have to experience the end of my annual employment contract after three years of service and take an exam for reemployment.”

The survey found out that 60% of non-regular public workers earn less than two million yen a year.