An advisory panel to the labor minister said Thursday that the government should promote job training to meet the employment needs of the industrial sector as the information technology revolution blossoms.

The Central Human Resources Development Council made the proposal, among others, to Labor Minister Chikara Sakaguchi.

The ministry will work out legislation for meeting the panel's proposals and hopes to present it to the Diet during its next regular session beginning in January, ministry officials said.

With labor mobility on the rise, workers are increasingly being required to upgrade their capabilities by themselves in an effort to narrow the gap between what employers expect from workers and vice versa, the report says.

Counseling and guidance are needed for developing the capabilities of part-time workers and for helping establish careers in the future for so-called "freeters," Japanese slang for a growing rank of young, job-hopping part-timers, according to the report.

Ease off recruiting

The Japan Federation of Employers' Associations (Nikkeiren) will call on businesses not to begin the recruitment of college students too early, starting in fiscal 2001, federation officials said Thursday.

"Restraints on early recruitment" have been added to Nikkeiren's ethical charter for employment so companies will attach more importance to scholarly achievements in hiring students, the officials said.

Representing more than 100 employers' associations, Nikkeiren decided to call for the restraints at the request of universities complaining that students do not spend enough time studying because of early corporate recruiting.