  Measures needed to offer young people decent jobs -- Akahata editorial, January 15 (Excerpts)The FY 2004 government White Paper on the Labor Economy estimates that the number of young people who are not in employment, education, or in training (NEET) has increased to 520,000, up 40,000 from the previous year. Another estimate shows that the number will reach a million by 2015. A major cause of the sharp increase in this group of young people is the tight job market which forces young people out of jobs or to take part-time and other contingency jobs. As of December 1, 2004, jobs are reserved for only 74.3 percent of university graduates in March 2005. The percentage for high school graduates is 67.7 percent. The number of job offers for high-school graduates has declined to one-seventh of the highest record for job offers. Under the performance-based wage system, many young employees are forced to work till late at night and even to the extent of burning out. In other cases they have no choice but to take low-paying unstable jobs under the threat of being fired any time. It is this situation that causes apathy or reluctance to work among young people. Schools and local governments should take measures to help graduating students with detailed guidance about jobs and job training, as well as about living conditions. Large corporations are now suspecting that their past strategy has led them nowhere, by which they employed as few new employees as possible, employed only the immediately effective ones to save corporate training costs, and greatly depended on low-paid lease or contract labor. The government has a duty to secure decent jobs for young people. The government must take steps so that large corporations fulfill their social responsibility to employ young people and train them, and must improve public job training systems. (end) |