THE JAPAN NEWS
 
The government plans to establish a system to certify companies actively engaged in hiring young people as regular employees or continually hiring them in a bill to be submitted to the ordinary Diet session, to be convened on Jan. 26, according to sources.
 
The system is aimed at improving the employment situation concerning young people with joint efforts from the public and private sectors. There are fewer young workers due to low birthrate and aging society, and the system aims to eventually support the sustainable growth of the nation’s economy, the sources said.
 
The employment situation for young people is improving as the percentage of new university graduates who found jobs has increased. However, about 27 percent of nonregular workers aged 25 to 34 remain dissatisfied with their jobs, which was the average from April to June last year. The figure is higher than those in other age brackets. In addition, the rate of those who left their jobs within three years after graduation totals about 30 percent among university graduates, while that of high school graduates was about 40 percent.
 
Therefore, the bill includes the introduction of a system to certify companies that meet certain standards, such as having high retention rates of young employees and carrying out training sessions to improve their workers’ abilities, according to sources. Those companies will be able to receive subsidies and carry a certification mark on their products or services to appeal to the public.
 
Details of the standards will be decided at the Labor Policy Council, an advisory panel for the health, labor and welfare minister, the sources said.
 
The bill also will stipulate that when companies recruit students and if the students so request, the companies will be required to provide information on at least one of the following three fields: recruiting and employment, employment management, and development and improvement of career skills.
 
The bill is aimed at clarifying the government’s responsibilities to formulate the basic employment measures for young people. In addition, the government will come out with a measure to strengthen cooperation among schools, companies and the HelloWork job placement offices by specifying their respective roles at every phase of a period during the students’ stay in schools, the job hunting period and after starting working.
 
The bill will also incorporate a policy of hiring as regular workers job-hopping part-timers and so-called NEETs — young people aged 15 to 34 who are neither in employment, education nor training. Specifically, the government plans to set up special job placement offices designed for young people and to support with subsidies individual companies that directly hire the temporarily employed.
 
Meanwhile, measures against so-called black companies, which exploit new hires, constantly require workers to work long hours or allow harassment at the workplace, also will be taken. The government will establish a new system under which HelloWork offices do not accept job postings from companies that have seriously violated labor-related laws.