Human Resources

September 2003

Pension reform will facilitate outsourcing of administrative work for part timers. Major temporary staffing agencies, including Pasona Inc. and Tempstaff Co., will hire and manage part-time workers on behalf of other companies, expecting demand for such services to increase if the government decides to require part-timers to join the employee pension program. Pasona is preparing to offer the services to companies employing large numbers of part-timers, such as volume retailers and restaurant operators. Tempstaff is poised to hold seminars on these services in a bid to win orders from corporate clients. One public pension reform proposal calls for including part-timers that work over 20 hours a week in the employee pension program. If the measure is adopted, companies employing many part-timers will likely see an increase in clerical work, such as collecting pension premiums, a development likely to prompt them to outsource the work to other companies. There are currently about 7.5 million part-time workers nationwide, 4.4 times more than the number of temporary workers, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.　(September 7, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun)

The index gauging employers' attitude toward the supply of regular workers on their payroll stood at minus 5 in august, almost unchanged from minus 6 in May, meaning there are more employers with surplus workers than those facing labor shortages, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The index is calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers who say they have a surplus of workers from that of employers who say they are faced with a shortage of laborers. The ministry compiles the index every three months and the poll covers 5,358 randomly selected offices, shops and factories that employ 30 or more workers. The latest poll received replies from 2,992, or 56% of those surveyed. (September 4, Kyodo News, the Japan Times)