Human Resources

August 2003

The Ministry of Labor plans next fiscal year to start helping mothers who previously quit their jobs to care for their children re-enter job market. The ministry will place counselors for such women at offices in Tokyo, Osaka and three other cities. They will advise women about developing the skills necessary to find a job based on their qualifications and experience. The ministry will also ask companies to provide these women with the opportunity to work for a couple of days to help them get reacquainted with the job world. If the prospective working mothers have to put their children in day care or other facilities during this period, it will fund about one-third of the required expenses as well. The ministry plans to request a total of more than \400 million for this program under the fiscal 2004 budget. (August 14, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun)