The labor ministry plans to start compiling new statistics for foreign workers in Japan to monitor factors such as their wages, working patterns and working hours from next fiscal year, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.   These are to be the first statistics focused on foreign workers. As basic data for labor market analysis and policy making, they will be….Read more

Tokyo, June 24 (Jiji Press)–A quarter of companies in Japan have taken measures to allow employees to work until the age of 70, a labor ministry survey showed on Friday.   Companies in Japan are required to make efforts to introduce measures to secure employment opportunities for workers until the age of 70, such as scrapping retirement age limits.   The….Read more

DAISUKE MARUYAMA, KOHEI SAKAI and TAKASHI TSUJI, Nikkei staff writers   TOKYO — The Japanese government will soon push businesses to disclose so-called human-capital metrics over four categories, aiming to give investors a more accurate picture of companies’ strengths and weaknesses.   Human capital is a concept that views employees as value-generating investments rather than simply as a cost. Shareholders….Read more

MOTOKAZU MATSUI, Nikkei staff writer   TOKYO — Japanese companies face a serious shortage of skilled tech professionals as rigid seniority systems prevent them offering the kind of pay and packages likely to lure younger IT engineers and other experts.   Data from a major Japanese staffing agency shows that the so-called jobs-to-applicants ratio for IT professionals reached 10 late….Read more

EUGENE LANG, Nikkei staff writer   TOKYO — Kyo, a 32-year-old Taiwanese woman, had lived in Tokyo for over six years before landing a permanent job at a clothing store. The job was not easy to come by, despite her graduating from a university in Taiwan and spending a year in Tokyo learning Japanese.   Kyo, who wanted to be identified….Read more

Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, labor unions play a major role in improving the terms and conditions of workers. As a national center of trade unions, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) should make steady efforts to stabilize employment and the livelihoods of employees.   Rengo held a general rally ahead of next month’s House of Councillors election and reaffirmed….Read more

TOKYO — The Japanese government on Tuesday revoked the permit of an intermediate organization that introduces foreign trainees to host companies after it failed to prevent the physical abuse of a Vietnamese man by his Japanese co-workers at a construction firm.   The organization, Okayama Sangyo Gijutsu Kyodo Kumiai in Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, was prohibited from introducing foreign trainees to companies for five years….Read more

By EUGENE LANG, Nikkei staff writer   TOKYO — An agency designed to address workplace grievances and provide general assistance for foreign workers began operating Monday under a joint initiative by eight Japanese companies including Toyota Motor and Seven & i Holdings.   Employees of participating companies and their business partners can now seek assistance on work, personal and health-related issues through instant….Read more

By Eric Johnson   The Japanese Trade Union Confederation — better known as Rengo — has a long history of backing opposition parties. So in April, as the country began to prepare for the summer Upper House election, it came as a shock to many observers when the head of Rengo, Tomoko Yoshino, attended a meeting with the ruling Liberal Democratic….Read more