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How does initial placement in a temporary work contract affect workers' subsequent labor market outcomes? We study a unique set of natural experiments: In the mid-1990s, the Japanese airline industry implemented a new hiring policy using temporary employment contracts. The policy was later reversed in the mid-2010s. Examining the universe of employment records from one of Japan's major airlines as well as government surveys to compare outcomes for cohorts of flight attendants hired just before to those hired just after these changes in industry policy, we find that workers starting on temporary contracts were less likely to remain with the firm over time and are less likely to have children within 10 years after starting the job. These findings do not appear to be the result of selection on observables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Association between employment contract (temporary vs. permanent) and suicidal ideation (persistent suicidal ideation [i.e., with onset before COVID‐19] or newly developed under COVID‐19 pandemic) was examined using a nationally representative cross‐sectional study in Japan. Methods: An Internet survey was conducted from August to September 2020. The participants' inclusion criteria for this study were as follows: (i) 20–65 years old, (ii) employees (excluding self‐employed, students, retired, housewives, and unemployed). The associations of suicidal ideation with the employees' factors were analyzed using the multinomial logistic regression model, adjusting for covariates (sex, age, marital status, education, company size, industries, and a history of psychiatric disease). Results: Of total 12 249 participants, 72.4% were permanent and 27.6% were temporary employees. The prevalence was 8.5% for persistent suicidal ideation and 3.2% for newly developed suicidal ideation in the COVID‐19 pandemic. Temporary employment was significantly associated with persistent suicidal ideation (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.36 [95% confidence interval, CI: 1.16–1.59]; P <.001), but not associated with newly developed suicidal ideation (aOR = 1.10 [0.85–1.42]; P =.457) after adjusting the covariates. Sensitivity analysis showed temporary employment was significantly associated with persistent suicidal ideation only in women. Newly developed suicidal ideation was significantly higher among participants of a young age, employees in drinking/eating/hotel business industry, and those having a history of psychiatric disease than among the counterparts. Conclusions: Working on a temporary employment contract was associated with persistent suicidal ideation under conditions of COVID‐19 outbreaks in Japan. However, the result showed no significant difference in newly developed suicidal ideation. Further longitudinal study will be needed to examine the risk of being employed on an unstable occupational contract in the prolonged pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article on social movement unionism in Japan examines the particular ways in which labor unions form coalitions when undertaking disputes that concern the dismissal of blue-collar temporary agency workers. The triangular employment arrangement nullified the right of labor unions that represent the temporary agency workers to bargain with the user corporations. Against this predicament, labor unions formed alliances by flexibly negotiating the divisions that exist among labor. Labor unions in Japan are largely grouped under national labor federations and by their ties to political parties. Labor unions formed coalitions within the federation boundaries but also found creative ways to bridge across federation membership in an effort to rebuild its associational power. Civil society groups served as a glue that drew in unions across national federation memberships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using General Social Survey data from Japan and the US (N = 5101), we examine the effect of non-standard or non-regular work status on men’s fertility. We employ a cross-national comparative approach to explore how this relationship differs both within and across the two countries. Consistent with features of the Japanese context which make it challenging for non-regular workers to realise the breadwinner role we find a negative effect of non-standard work status on men’s fertility in Japan, but not the US. Specifically, Japanese men employed as non-regular workers have the lowest chances of having a child. Non-regular work status has no such effect on men’s fertility in the US. We also find that the difference in the non-standard work effect between the two countries can be accounted for by differences in the effect of marriage, which illustrates the close connection between marriage and fertility in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study on blue-collar temporary agency workers in Japan uses participant observation and in-depth interviews to revisit the Marxist problem of surplus appropriation; that is, why do temp workers work as hard as they do, when management has little to offer in return? Existing literature has provided two answers of 'coercion' and 'consent.' This study attempts to bridge the debate by employing Bourdieu and Wacquant's concepts of practical sense and illusio. Workers entering the factory as novices initially made conscious efforts to master the specific bodily schemes necessary to survive on an insecure job. It was in the process of mastering the practical knowledge of factory work that temp workers came to be taken in, and by the game. Temp workers came to experience joy in investing their mind and body in the tasks, for they saw themselves reflected in the good job they did. Yet workers were not wholehearted believers in the game; they questioned their commitment and deeply suffered from reflecting on the poor treatment they continued to receive despite their commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The weak performance of the Japanese economy since the 1990s has renewed the debate on the efficiency of its employment practices. Although actual changes have long trailed expectations, two major developments have taken place in recent years: a rise in non-regular employment and the introduction of performance-related pay (seikashugi). Both affect the internal labour market that has been crucial to human resource management in Japan. The first development diminishes its relevance and the second directly impacts its functioning. This paper discusses these changes and the factors that determine their character. Moreover, it argues that the changes are not just aligned with but also made possible by an important continuity in the support for the core practice of lifetime employment. What results is a story of institutional change and continuity which argues that the specific character of Japanese employment practices remains in spite of an apparent convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to discuss the differences between full-time employees and "core part-time employees" in retail outlets. Although most of the foregoing studies focused on the overlapping of the tasks assigned to both the groups, we have progressed to the next stage of addressing the overlapping or the differences between elements other than tasks, i.e., responsibilities, careers, and on-duty hours. This analysis uses the data obtained from interviews and questionnaires (Nishino 2003-2004). The term "core part-time employee" refers to a part-time employee who works more than 120 hours per month. The findings of this analysis are as follows: (1) the tasks that both the groups engage in overlap considerably; (2) the range of responsibilities pertaining to their sales differ between the two groups, even though the designations are the same within the outlets; (3) the gap with reference to job experiences widens as the employees of the two groups get promoted within their outlets; and (4) the on-duty hours of the full-time employees are considerably longer than those of the "core part-time employees," because they have to work "flexibly" and overtime in response to their firm's request. Based on these findings, it is concluded that the advanced utilization of part-timers has reached its limit at present. According to the interviews conducted, some companies adopt a strategy wherein they employ a smaller number of full-time employees and allow them to specialize in managerial jobs. It is then possible that the gaps between the two groups with reference to the above mentioned four elements may become wider again. In order to promote equitable treatment, the existing approach focusing on the overlapping of their tasks will not be effective. A completely different approach needs to be adopted in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study of the making of the Revised Temporary Worker Law (1999) seeks to update our understanding of the labour policy-making process. The analysis indicates that government officials continue to play an effective role in guiding new labour legislation to enactment, but that the policy-making process is better suited to deregulation (liberalization) of employment practices than to reform of fundamental problems, such as the low status of non-regular and women workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the employment system and corporate management in Japan. Issues regarding the labor market; Treatment of regular and temporary workers in Japanese companies; Employment of middle-aged persons.

Discusses the popularity of postdoctoral researchers in Japan. Pioneering efforts of Frontier Research Program to provide funds for postdocs; Government efforts; Temporary employment; Inability to attract non-Japanese applicants; Public recognition; Outlook.

The article examines temporary employees in the Japanese Government. This sector has been growing and said to be in a disadvantageous position. Temporary employees are those that are hired for a fixed period of time excluding new hired employees on probation and service contract employees. The Japanese government has been restricting the number of permanent staffs but it has not result in a proportional increase of temporary staff. Trends in peripheral areas of the civil service system is the sector making use of the temporary employment.

The Japanese lifetime-employment system gives the average Japanese worker stronger job security than the average American worker.' However, lifetime- employment guarantees apply only to the core, "regular" work force. Peripheral workers, including temporary, day. and part-time workers, are more vulnerable to contract termination. These workers are predominantly female and are widely believed to serve as a buffer for the regular work force. Moreover, Japanese women are disproportionately represented among those groups not covered by the lifetime employment system and so are more vulnerable to contract termination. Temporary employees are workers employed for a period of not less than a month but not more than a year and day laborers are workers employed on a daily basis for a period of less than a month. Women, in turn, accounted for 79 percent of temporary workers and 75 percent of day laborers in manufacturing. Analysts have argued that Japanese companies were harmed by their inability to shed excess labor during the severe recession following the first oil price shock in the mid-1970s.

The article discusses the problems that need to be resolved in Japan's employment reform. The collapse of the bubble economy and big banks in the 1990s forced employees to change jobs in mid-career, work longer hours, and avoid marriage and childbirth which caused the rapid decline of the birthrate. Also noted as issues are the decline in wages and the increase in hiring temporary employees. It also examines the bills submitted for revisions, including the Employment Measures Law, Part-Time work law, and the Labor Contracts Law.

The article features Shutoken Seinen Union (SSU) and Freeter Union Fukuoka, two trade unions gaining grounds among young Japanese temporary workers. It details the operations of SSU or Tokyo Young Contingent Workers' Union which is affiliated with Zenroren, Japan's second largest trade federation. The article also reports that the number of unionized temporary workers rose from 400,000 to 700,000 between 2005 and 2009.

The article explores the immigration proposal of Sakanaka Hidenori, the founder of the Japan Immigration Policy Institute. According to the author, Hidenori's proposal advocates the opening up of the country to immigration. Among the key elements of his immigration nation proposal are a shift from temporary workers to immigrants, education and employment reforms, corporate social responsibility, revitalization of agriculture, the formation of a ministry of immigration, promotion of a multiethnic Japan and immigration social workers.

The Hibiya Tent Village set up during New Year 2008/09 where 500 temporary workers gathered to seek food and shelter after their sudden job losses revealed the gradual process of deregulation of Japan's labor market that has taken place since the Koizumi administration and culminated in the revision of the Labor Dispatch Law in 2004. The work of the political scientist Margarita Estévez-Abe which describes the evolution of an employment-based welfare arrangement favoring particular corporate interest groups of the former ruling party LDP while excluding growing numbers of temporary workers from efficient welfare protection serves as an initial theoretical framework of our analysis. We augment our analysis with recent data on the re-regulation of the Japanese labor market such as the introduction of emergency employment measures after the outbreak of the economic crisis in 2008, a re-regulation of the Labor Dispatch Law, an improved integration of particular employment groups and reforms of the employment insurance and the part-time law in order to show that Japan under the DPJ is gradually moving towards implementing a more balanced welfare system which seeks to stabilize employment conditions and enable greater numbers of temporary workers to access welfare protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a debate over the regulation of temporary workers in the manufacturing sector in Japan. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party plans to ban in principle the dispatch of registered temp workers to the manufacturing sector. The business community, headed by the Japan Business Federation, is concerned that a ban on the dispatch of temp workers could motivate them to relocate plants abroad.