HR-ON-THE-GO: Japan HR News Roundup

TOKYO -- Japan first started actively accepting nurses from other countries more than 11 years ago, when the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Indonesia went into effect in July 2008. 

Source: https://mainichi.jp/

Young Japanese are increasingly joining the forestry industry thanks to a government program and labor-saving improvements made possible by the expanding use of machines. Many also see the sector as an opportunity to escape urban life.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/

The exam was held for the second time since its introduction in fiscal 2018, which followed a scandal in which many government agencies falsified reports of the number of people with disabilities they employed in order to meet a legally prescribed threshold.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/

TOKYO -- Sadako Ogata's contribution to the world was not limited to helping millions of displaced people as the head of the United Nations refugee agency. She also inspired many younger Japanese women to follow suit and fulfill professional ambitions on the world stage.

Source: https://asia.nikkei.com/

A subcommittee of a labor ministry panel on Wednesday gave its approval to draft guidelines on preventing power harassment in workplaces that require companies to clearly ban such practices.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/

The immigration service had issued just 895 working permits as of early November under the new visa system for skilled blue-collar foreign workers, a far lower number than had originally been forecast for this time, agency officials said Wednesday.

TOKYO, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government on Tuesday rolled out tougher penalties to be imposed on employers or entities at which foreign interns disappear from, with those who have a track record of such disappearances being prohibited from the internship program.

Source: http://www.xinhuanet.com/

The hashtag “glasses are forbidden” (#メガネ禁止 in Japanese) grew in popularity on Twitter on Wednesday after the country’s Nippon TV covered a story about Japanese companies banning women employees from wearing glasses and forcing them to wear contact lenses instead, according to the Washington Post.

As Japan’s construction firms are squeezed by the tightest labor market since the 1970s and a rapidly aging population, they are pouring investment into technology — and providing unexpected support to an economy reeling from the bitter U.S.-China trade war.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/