"FREETER" in Japan

There are so many "freeter" among young people in Japan and it is one of the big issues in japan. Why they become "freeter"?? Hum... it is difficult to answer...

***** QUOTE FROM ASAHI SHIMBUN *****

Put `freeters' to work, ministry says (04/13/2005) - The Asahi Shimbun

Alarmed by a rise in the number of "freeters," people who hop from one part-time job to another without finding long-term employment, the labor ministry is planning steps to get them into full-time jobs.

Officials of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said Monday they hope to reduce the more than 2 million people currently working as freeters by 200,000 in fiscal 2005.

"The increase in unskilled freeters is not just a problem for individuals. If the nation's companies fail to train our young people, Japan's international competitiveness and vitality will suffer," said a ministry official.

In addition to the freeters, about 520,000 people are categorized as "NEETs," or people "not in employment, education or training."

The ministry will place special advisers for freeters at nationwide Hello Work employment agency offices to offer job counseling.

It will also hold job seminars and employment fairs in cooperation with companies that are in need of workers.

Getting businesses involved is key to the plan, and one way to entice them to hire unskilled workers is the probation system.

In that system, firms take on young workers for a three-month period, hiring them as full-time employees after that if all goes well. In fiscal 2004, about 50,000 freeters were placed with companies on a three-month trial basis, the ministry said.

About 80 percent were awarded with full-time contracts after their probationary periods ended.

The ministry is also promoting ideas like "job cafes," places that are more welcoming for young people than the crowded Hello Work offices run by the central government. At job cafes, operated by local governments in conjunction with other groups, freeters can sip coffee as they search through job opportunities.

The ministry has set aside about 37 billion yen for such job-promotion measures. It is also creating a panel in May to discuss ways to reduce the ranks of young job-hoppers.

To be headed by Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), the panel will gather 20 experts from academia and groups working to reduce youth unemployment to work out solutions.

The ranks of the young and under-employed are growing, the ministry says.

About 2.17 million people aged 15 to 34 have found only part-time jobs since graduating from school in 2003.

In recent years, that figure has grown by approximately 100,000 annually.(IHT/Asahi: April 13,2005)