EXCLUSIVE: Japan eyes cooperation among municipalities for job assistance

August 22, 2019

Tokyo--Japan's labor ministry plans to start a model project in fiscal 2020 to facilitate cooperation between cities and nearby towns and villages on helping people take jobs, informed sources told Jiji Press.

The project is part of the ministry's efforts to boost support for the so-called "employment ice age" generation aged mainly between 35 and 44, who faced difficulty finding jobs when they graduated from school, the sources said.

It aims to help small municipalities provide job assistance more easily through the wide-area cooperation, planning to conduct the model project among 50 municipalities across the country, the sources said.

The cost of the project will be fully covered by the state so that municipalities with tight finances can join it, the sources said. The ministry plans to request about one billion yen in funding for the project for the year starting in April 2020, they said.

The job assistance targets people who have been unemployed for a long period, giving them an opportunity to change their lifestyles and learn communication skills necessary for taking jobs.

Only about half of municipalities across the country currently provide such assistance. "Although there are needs, it's difficult for some municipalities to act alone as the number of such jobless people in their regions is small," a source familiar with the situation said.

The sources said it would be efficient for some towns and villages to join nearby cities in providing the assistance.

In addition to the job assistance, the model project is set to cover support for homeless people and households facing financial problems. Jiji Press