Hiring disabled falls far short of legal target

A government survey shows that less than half of private companies in Japan meet the legal target for hiring disabled people.

The labor ministry conducted the survey in June.

By law, the ratio of the total workforce should be more than 1.8 percent at private companies with 56 or more employees in Japan.

The survey found only 45.5 percent of companies met the target.

The worst performing sector is the IT industry at about 22 percent. The real estate industry marked almost 30 percent, while the wholesale and retail industry scored about 34 percent.

In the public sector, prefectural boards of education are required to hire 2 percent or more disabled people out of the total workforce. Only six prefectures, including Osaka, Kyoto, and Ishikawa meet the target.

The labor ministry says the overall job market is still severe and the government will continue to urge private companies to hire more disabled people.

2009/11/23 11:30(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)