Tag - labor

 
 

LABOR

BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 22, 2014
Return of shunto is hollow triumph for unions
Shunto is in full swing. Or so it should be. Or so they say. Shunto is the Japanese word for the annual spring round of wage negotiations conducted between big business and trade unions. This "spring offensive" used to feature large in the annual economic calendar. As the deflationary 1990s and beyond...
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2014
Expanding the temp workforce
A labor law revision being prepared by the government would remove the three-year limit on dispatching temporary workers to the same job, and thus expand the ranks of a workforce that traditionally has had little job security and received less pay than regular employees.
EDITORIALS
Feb 15, 2014
More foreigners working in Japan
Whether it's the willingness at more workplaces to accept diversity or the nationwide worker shortage, especially in the construction industry, more foreigners are working in Japan than ever before.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Feb 12, 2014
ANA caricature speaks volumes about Japan's outdated mind-set
My personal opinion is that the ad is a disappointing anachronism, and a reminder of the parochial outlook of large Japanese corporations. The ad appeals to the facile formula that 'foreigner = white = blonde and big-nosed = English-speaking = globalization.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 3, 2014
Workers stumble while 'Abenomics' soars
Japanese stocks and profits are soaring under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to revive the economy. Even shop prices are up, a key step after years of deflation kept pocketbooks shut tight. None of that matters to Shuzo Matsui.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2014
As games loom, barriers for foreign workers show cracks
Japan's barriers to foreign labor are showing signs of cracking as preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics threaten to exacerbate the worst shortage of construction workers in almost 20 years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 22, 2014
Teachers tread water in eikaiwa limbo
Every year, thousands of young native English-speakers fly to Asia in search of an adventure, financed by working as English teachers. They come from Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., Britain, Canada and elsewhere.
EDITORIALS
Jan 18, 2014
More workers taking vacation
A group of companies in Japan are starting to buck the trend of making workers feel guilty for taking the full amount of vacation days to which they are entitled — and for good reason.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jan 8, 2014
Restore the shuttered-up New Year's of yore
First of all, I would like to wish a happy new year to all the readers of Labor Pains. While labor news has generally been a gloomy topic of late, it is my hope that this year will bring brighter things for me to write about.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’