SATSUKI KANEKO, Nikkei staff writer   TOKYO — Japanese employers will offer job opportunities to 50,000 highly skilled Asian professionals in digital technology and other in-demand fields under a government initiative announced Monday.   Competition for talent is only heating up across the continent, particularly in the fast-growing members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The Asia-Japan Investing for….Read more

By EUGENE LANG, Nikkei staff writer   TOKYO — Many Japanese companies are missing out on opportunities to employ highly qualified foreign nationals with valuable skills because of their insistence that recruits have advanced Japanese language skills.   According to a survey of data from two job placement services in Japan, more than 70% of specialist positions open to foreigners require full fluency….Read more

By Shimpei Doi, Staff Writer   A survey asking 100 major Japanese companies about actions they have taken to protect the rights of sexual minorities found more than 80 percent have introduced or plan to introduce written company polices prohibiting discriminating against them.   But while large companies are taking the lead in these initiatives, the poll also revealed how….Read more

By Yamaguchi Joichi   On the morning of December 22, members of the Kanagawa Headquarters of the All Japan Garrison Forces Labor Union (Zenchuro) gathered at the front gate of U.S. Army Camp Zama (Zama City and Minami Ward of Sagamihara City) and elsewhere to protest various labor issues at the base. At Camp Zama as well as at the….Read more

On Dec. 7, the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) released the results of its survey of member corporations. According to the poll, 44% of respondents said that the number of employees seeking advice on power harassment issues has increased from five years ago, greatly exceeding the number of respondents who reported a decline (16.3%). This is likely due to the enforcement….Read more

Tokyo, Dec. 1 (Jiji Press)–The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, plans to call on member companies with solid earnings to raise wages to help initiate a “new form of capitalism,” a key policy platform of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, informed sources said.     The policy is shown in Keidanren’s management-side draft guidelines for next year’s “shunto” spring wage talks.     The draft….Read more

TOKYO — Japan’s working-age population sank to just over 75 million last year, down 13.9% from the 1995 peak, underscoring an urgent need for productivity growth to keep the economy expanding as the labor pool dwindles.   The country had fewer people ages 15-64 last year than in 1975, according to twice-a-decade census data released Friday. This group made up less….Read more

TOKYO — More Japanese companies are offering higher pay as industries from auto manufacturing to restaurants scramble for workers in an economy that is trying to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.   Even before the pandemic, Toyota Motor had struggled to find temporary workers willing to work late-night shifts. Now, Japan’s top car company has decided to double its sign-on….Read more