Japan Press Weekly

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2007 May 30 - June 5 [LABOR]

Non-regular workers account for record-high 33.7% of labor force

In the first quarter of 2007, non-regular workers accounted for 33.7 percent of the total workforce, hitting a record-high, with an increase of 0.5 percentage points from the same period a year earlier, the Internal Affairs Ministry announced on May 29.

This showed once again the increase of low-paid unstable employment despite the government claim of “improvement in the employment situation.”

In that period, the number of regular workers increased by 530,000, while that of non-regular workers increased by 630,000. In total, 17.26 million people worked as non-regular workers such as part-time and temporary workers.

Among female employees, non-regular workers accounted for 54.1 percent, while for male employees the rate was 18.4 percent of the labor force.
- Akahata, May 30, 2007