Back to Work Back to Work.

Job displacement (involuntary job loss due to firm closure or downsizing) affects many workers over the course of their working lives. Displaced workers may face long periods of unemployment and, even when they find new jobs, tend to be paid less and have fewer benefits than in the jobs they held prior to displacement. Helping displaced workers get back into good jobs quickly should be a key goal of labour market policy. This report is the second in a series of reports looking at how this challenge is being tackled in a number of OECD countries. It shows that Japanese employers and the government go to considerable lengths to avoid the displacement of regular workers while also providing considerable income and re-employment support to many of the workers whose jobs cannot be preserved. Challenges for labour market programmes include expanding labour market mobility between regular jobs, improving co-ordination between private and public re-employment assistance for displaced workers, and avoiding that job displacement pushes older workers to the margins of the labour market Foreword Table of contents Acronyms and abbreviations Executive summary Assessment and recommendations Chapter 1. Job displacement in Japan and its consequences Introduction The Japanese labour market context Displaced workers: Incidence and characteristics Getting back into work Changes in wages and job characteristics following displacement Conclusions Notes References Database references Annex 1.A1- Additional figures Chapter 2. Japan's measures to prevent job displacement and other forms of early intervention Introduction Preventing job displacement. Annex 3.A2 Recent reforms to mandatory retirement and their potential implications for the operation of voluntary early retirement plansNotes Chapter 4. Helping Japanese displaced workers back into jobs Introduction Key providers of re-employment and training services in Japan Re-employment and training services Crisis measures for large numbers of displaced workers Conclusions Notes References Database references Annex 4.A1 -- Additional figure.