This is the time of internship for Japanese students, and the summer internship in the third year of university is actually the beginning of job search activities.
Recently, Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has also made changes to the "internship information" regulations for students: in the future, companies may use the evaluation information obtained by students in internships when recruiting and selecting.
△ Source / NHK
In the future, companies can send company introductions to students based on internship information, and students can receive preferential treatment such as exemption from some interviews. However, companies must inform students in advance on their official websites in order to use internship information.
After the implementation of this regulation, the options for enterprises to ensure that talents will increase, and students can also narrow down the scope and lock in the right companies for themselves. The new rules begin to apply to current sophomores.
△Internship experience / NHK that can be used in the future
The Province of Arts, Culture, Sports, science and technology and other departments will call on enterprises to comply with the revised regulations through the Economic Association. For students, in addition to job search activities, notifications are also sent by the Labour Office and public employment agencies.
When Japan selects the companies of interest, it pays attention to the data released by some companies. In general, the more relevant data, the better, but the recent operation of a large Japanese company has caused criticism.
In April, it announced the hiring of female management, and for the first time released the total fertility rate (estimated number of children born to female employees): 1.97 in FY2021, much higher than the 1.33% in Japan as a whole in 2020.
ITOCHU positioned this as "an important indicator of women's activity." This data is calculated based on a personal situation report submitted to the company (excluding dispatched employees).
△Raigen / ITOCHU Corporation HP
According to the company, the number has continued to rise since FY2013 due to the creation of a work system of "working early and then leaving work early" and a friendlier working environment.
On social networking sites, students and others have welcomed it, saying that "this will become a reference for selecting high-quality companies" and "other companies should follow suit".
But on the other hand, experts criticize this as "unilaterally imposing the value that having children is a good thing", which may cause pressure to have children, etc. The matter immediately sparked the topic.
In response to the criticism that "companies should not intervene in personal privacy issues", the head of ITOCHU Corporation said: "This data shows that women can continue to work after giving birth, and we also want to convey the reform of work styles and the improvement of the company atmosphere." ”
△ Source / wiki
In the past, some local governments have also investigated the fertility rate of local enterprises and commended enterprises with excellent data for the purpose of supporting child-rearing. However, among the local governments that were implementing at that time, there were also opinions questioning whether the investigation was necessary. There are currently no prefectures in Japan that have conducted the survey.
Regarding the announcement of the company's fertility rate by the private enterprises that appeared this time, Masami Saito (Sociology), a very diligent lecturer at Toyama University, accused: "This is an invasion of personal privacy, which will cause great pressure for employees such as homosexuality and infertility, and should not link the promotion of healthy work methods with fertility rates."
Finally, there is a message about office workers doing side jobs in Japan.
Over the past few years, more and more Japanese companies have begun to allow employees to work as side hustlers. However, very few people talk openly about side hustle in the workplace, so it can be difficult for us to know the actual situation.
△ Raigen / "Parallel Career/Side Job" Fact-finding Survey
Recently, according to the survey results of the Japanese comprehensive talent service company "en Japan" (Tokyo), of the 2250 users of the recruitment website mainly targeting the 30s and 40-year-olds, only 14% of the respondents planned to work only on their main business until retirement.
The person in charge pointed out that "relying solely on the economic constraints of the main business, there are not a few people who have to carry out side businesses." Others are considering upgrading their career skills for the future. ”
The survey was conducted online from January to March and targeted users of the company's recruitment site. In response to the question "What kind of work style do you want to adopt in the future", the proportion of respondents who "want to carry out a second occupation or activity in addition to their main business" accounted for the largest number, reaching 68%. 14% answered "only the main business" and 13% "want to start a business".
△ Source / pakutaso
On the other hand, 66% of respondents said they were not carrying out their main business. The reasons (multiple choices) are in the forefront of "do not know how to start", "the company prohibits", "the main business is very busy and has no time", "I have not yet determined what to do".
It can be seen that Japanese office workers still have many concerns about carrying out side business, and many companies are still cautious about employees' side business or part-time work. In this context, the Japanese government recently decided that it will require companies to disclose information such as "whether employees are allowed to carry out side business or part-time work".
At a review meeting held by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on June 27, the revised guidelines on side jobs and part-time jobs were announced. The amendment proposes that as to whether employees are allowed to carry out side jobs or part-time jobs, if the enterprise is conditionally allowed, it is necessary to disclose the relevant conditions on their respective official websites.
However, this requirement does not have a legal obligation, and enterprises can choose whether to disclose relevant information. The Japanese government hopes to encourage more companies to make changes and support workers in diversifying their jobs.