Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2014 July 9 - 15 [LABOR]

Gov’t should seek society where everyone can get full-time job

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

Bubbling with excitement, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo brags that his economic policy, “Abenomics”, has contributed to an increase in employment and workers’ wages. In reality, a recovery of the labor market in regard to full-time employees is suffering delays and the number of non-regular employees, such as part-timers and temps, is increasing. The Internal Affairs Ministry’s survey shows that in May, while the number of contingent workers went up by 300,000 from a year earlier, the number of full-time workers increased by only 10,000.

Government data on job market conditions in May indicated that the ratio of job offers to job seekers stood at 1.09, meaning that job vacancies exceeded job applicants. When looking at full-time jobs, however, the ratio was 0.67. Approximately one in three full-time job seekers has difficulty in obtaining a full-time position.

Although “Abenomics” has reportedly played a part in turning around Japan’s sluggish economy, full-time positions are still highly competitive. This is because large companies are taking the position that they secure profitability by using more low-paid contingent workers instead of increasing full-time workers in response to a growing demand.

As the use of agency workers is limited to “fixed-term or temporary jobs” under the relevant law, full-time employment should be a common labor practice. The government should prohibit large corporations’ arrogant labor practices and establish decent work rules under which everyone can work as full-time workers.