The prolonged spread of the novel coronavirus has increased anxiety about employment. The government should do its best to protect employment, which is the foundation of people's lives.
Regarding the employment adjustment subsidies to help companies pay allowances to workers who have been put on leave, the government has decided to extend until the end of December the period during which it is implementing special measures. It was initially set to expire at the end of September.
In addition to easing the conditions for applying, such as the amount by which a company's sales have decreased, the government has increased the upper limit to 15,000 yen per day.
The expansion of coronavirus infections has not been brought under control, and many companies are struggling, especially those in the restaurant and tourism industries.
Sales at izakaya traditional Japanese pubs across the country halved in July from a year earlier. Although the government has launched a tourism support program called "Go To Travel," the total number of people staying at hotels, ryokan inns and other accommodation facilities was about half that in the same month last year.
It is reasonable to extend the special measures period to reduce the impact on employment.
Initially, the use of employment adjustment subsidies was sluggish because of the complicated procedures involved. Efforts were made, including simplifying the information to be put on an application, resulting in about 900,000 applications, worth a total of more than 1 trillion yen, being approved by the end of August.
Japan's unemployment rate stood at 2.9% in July, lower than in the United States and Europe. This figure is also lower than the over 5% rate seen after the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.
The subsidies can be said to have had a certain effect. It is hoped that the government will make efforts to pay the subsidies more smoothly.
For small and midsize companies, the expansion of subsidies under the special measures is covered by the national budget, while large companies are covered by reserve funds related to employment insurance programs. If the special measures continue, there are reportedly fears that the government could run short of reserve funds.
The government also needs to consider ways to prepare additional financial resources, such as by injecting government funds and raising insurance premiums.
It is worrisome that a number of companies will be forced to downsize their operations because they cannot withstand the impact of the coronavirus despite the extension of the special measures period. In August, a large izakaya chain operator that received subsidies sought to have about 10% of its regular employees take voluntary retirement.
The jobless rate is said to be an indicator that lags behind actual economic trends. The government must keep a close eye on the future of the economy.
Self-help efforts by companies are also essential. A major restaurant operator is sending its employees to another company's supermarket while still keeping them as its own employees. Some ryokan employees are engaged in local farming.
Even amid the coronavirus disaster, there has been a labor shortage in such areas as nursing care and distribution. It is hoped that working conditions will be improved in these areas, and also that ingenuity will be applied to facilitate cooperation across industries in order to expedite the absorption of people who have lost their jobs.
In the long run, it is important to strengthen job training so that human resources can be transferred to growth fields such as information technology.
-- The original Japanese article appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on Sept. 3, 2020.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
