As of Thursday, 10,835 workers including prospects have been laid off or had their contracts terminated due to the spread of the new coronavirus, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Katsunobu Kato said at a press conference Friday.
According to the ministry's tally through Hello Work public job-placement offices, the number of such people jumped from 835 in March to 2,654 in April and 7,064, as of Thursday, in May. The affected workers are mainly in the hotel and passenger transport industries, which have been hit hard by the decrease in foreign tourists, as well as the restaurant and manufacturing industries.
The ministry is strengthening support for companies that are striving to maintain their employment rolls, by raising the ceiling of the money paid under the government's employment adjustment grants. If the ministry receives information about large-scale layoffs, it goes directly to the companies concerned to encourage them to use the subsidies, it said.
Kato said, "We will strive to grasp the situation in real time and actively encourage each company to maintain employment."
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