Category: Employment

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 25, 2025 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Disability Employment Japan

Farm-welfare links for disabled employment expand in Japan

Agriculture-welfare partnerships, in which individuals with disabilities actively participate in farming activities, have been steadily gaining momentum in Japan following a government 2019 policy vision aimed at promoting such collaborations.
The number of such partnership initiatives launched by agricultural corporations and employment facilities has significantly grown, reaching about 7,100 by fiscal 2023, which ended in March last year. Such initiatives have not only welcomed disabled individuals, but also extended opportunities to former prison inmates and others in need of support.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 24, 2025 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Disability Employment Japan

41% of companies fail to meet legal employment rate for people with disabilities in Wakayama

As of June last year (2024), the employment rate of people with disabilities at companies in the prefecture was 2.78% on average, the highest ever, while 41% of the target companies did not meet the statutory employment rate set by the national government. The Wakayama Labor Bureau stated, “There are companies that do not fully understand or prepare for the system, and we would like to continue to support them.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 14, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Employment Japan

Number of People with Disabilities Employed in Yamaguchi Prefecture Reaches Record High

According to the Yamaguchi Labor Bureau, as of June 1st of last year, the number of disabled people employed by companies with their headquarters in the prefecture was 4,911.5, up 84 from the previous year. This is the highest number since statistics began being collected in 1977. The Disabled Employment Promotion Act requires private companies to employ a certain percentage of disabled people, such as 2.5 percent. This year’s employment rate in private companies was 2.77 percent, with particularly high rates in the service industry and medical and welfare industries.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 4, 2025 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Disability Employment Japan Railway Company

As Employment of Disabled Reaches Record High in Japan, JR Subsidiary Seeks to Ensure Disabled have Contact with Customers

As JR East promoted the employment of people with disabilities, they realized that many workplaces had no contact with the outside world. So, starting in the summer of 2023, JR East decided to have people with disabilities serve customers in a food truck. In December 2024, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s Tokyo Labor Bureau released the results of a survey on the employment status of people with disabilities. The number of people with disabilities employed by private companies reached a record high of 251,901 (a 5.3% increase from the previous year). Meanwhile, 17,369 companies in Tokyo have not met the legal employment rate, and of these, 9,785 companies do not employ any people with disabilities.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 23, 2024 Number of comments0
Disability Employment Japan

300 disabled workers laid off, retired or closed employment offices, a record high for single job provider

The number of office closures will be at least 16 in total in six prefectures, and the number of disabled people fired or retired is expected to reach about 300. This is an unusual scale for a single business operator, and in some cases, users have rebelled against the sudden closures. The company in question is “MOON” in Tokai City, Aichi Prefecture.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 20, 2024 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Disability Employment Japan Podcast

Large Number of People with Disabilities in Japan ‘let go’ from Workplaces as Government-aided Employers Close Down [Podcast Episode]

large number of people with disabilities are being let go from workplaces in Japan as government-aided employers which offered them chances to gain skills and knowledge while working have been closing down. Formerly, there were about 4,600 such facilities nationwide. Between March and July this year, this was reduced by more than 160, and around 4,300 people lost their jobs. Usually, between around 1,000 and 3,000 people with disabilities are fired each year.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 17, 2024 1
Disability Employment Japan

Large Number of People with Disabilities in Japan ‘let go’ from Workplaces as Government-aided Employers Close Down

A large number of people with disabilities are being let go from workplaces in Japan as government-aided employers which offered them chances to gain skills and knowledge while working have been closing down. The national government should speed up support measures while thinking up systems to protect their employment. Formerly, there were about 4,600 such facilities nationwide. Between March and July this year, this was reduced by more than 160, and around 4,300 people lost their jobs. Usually, between around 1,000 and 3,000 people with disabilities are fired each year, but this year stands greatly apart.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt November 28, 2024 Number of comments0
developmental disabilities Disability Discrimination Employment Japan

45 Year-old Prefectural Office Worker with Developmental Disabilities Talks About Being Bullied at Work: “I was told it was my fault”

Yamamoto Takafumi (pseudonym, 45 years old), who has ASD (autism spectrum disorder). Yamamoto works at a prefectural office, but communication at work is not going well, and when he disclosed his ASD to his superiors, he began to suffer power harassment every day, and is currently on leave due to adjustment disorder.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt November 23, 2024 Number of comments0
Care Disability Employment Japan

Japan Govt Aims to Ease Care Worker Shortages through Wage Hikes

The Japanese government will help raise wages for care workers to alleviate labor shortages in the sector, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takamaro Fukuoka said in a recent interview.
Staff shortages at care facilities are “very serious,” Fukuoka said. He then noted that “the pay growth rate in the sector is said to be low”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt November 8, 2024 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Disability Employment Japan Podcast

Over Half of Companies in Toyama Prefecture Employ No People with Disabilities [Podcast Episode]

Companies in Japan of a certain size are required by law to employ people with disabilities, according to the ‘Act on Promotion of Employment of People with Disabilities’. Companies with 40 or more employees in Japan are required by law to employ at least one person with a disability. According to the Toyama Labor Bureau, over half of the companies that meet that certain size have not employed a single person, so-called zero-employment companies.