Category: Employment

According to Health, Labour, and Welfare Ministry data released on the 4th, the number of vocational training centers for the disabled where “more than half of users work from home” has surged 3.2 times over the four-year period ending in 2025. Because remote support reduces overhead costs, such as personnel expenses for on-site staff, the Ministry suspects that some profit-driven operators are abusing the system. Consequently, the Ministry issued a notice to local governments nationwide this April, calling for stricter oversight.

In the ongoing issue involving the fraudulent receipt of disability employment support bonuses by four “Type A” continuous employment support offices under the umbrella of the Osaka-based welfare company Kizuna Holdings (HD), it has been learned through interviews with both the company and the city that Kizuna HD has filed a lawsuit in the Osaka District Court. The suit seeks to rescind the city’s order to return approximately 11 billion yen.

“Kizuna Holdings hasn’t suffered any damage, but we are the ones struggling. They are the embodiment of insincerity…When I look for new work, I’m often asked, ‘Where did you work before?’ When I tell them it was a Kizuna Holdings facility, they say, ‘Oh, there. That means you were complicit in the crime. You’re an accomplice,’ and then tell me not to come back. But the one truly in the wrong is Kizuna Holdings, the users are the victims.”