The forum opened with keynote speeches by Mr. Yuji Genda and Mr. Naoki Mitani, followed by a panel discussion (in the latter half of the panel discussion, the panelists responded to questions and observations from the general audience).
 

1. Keynote Speech:

"Job-experiencing Program for 14-year-olds" as an Employment Assistance Measure for Young People (Mr. Yuji Genda, Associate Professor, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo)

• There has recently been an increase in young people known as NEETs (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). Although the macroeconomic labor demand and employment of young people is improving, the problem of those left behind is getting more serious.
• NEETs cannot even seek employment. It is thus important to make young people feel that they can work and to facilitate their communication with society at the compulsory education level. However, such measures are taken only in Hyogo and Toyama prefectures.

2. Keynote Speech:

Employment Measures for Young People in Western Countries (Mr. Naoki Mitani, Professor, Faculty of Economics, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University)

• In Western countries, employment measures for young people are classified as follows to improve the employment capacities of young people: policies aimed at young people without jobs or with a high risk of becoming jobless; an early retirement system for the elderly on the labor demand side; and policies to expand the labor demand for young people.
• However, the general evaluation of these policies is low. There are a few exceptions, however, like Germany's dual system (a combination of school education and vocational training). Germany's dual system is highly evaluated because the certifications which the students receive upon completion are valued by the communities based on good labor-management relations.
• The following can be mentioned as lessons for Japan: concentrate resources on measures for young people who have difficulty obtaining employment (dropouts, etc.); sustainable measures at an early stage are effective; differences and characteristics of the structure and system of the labor market as well as labor-management relations must be considered (Japan's employment introduction by schools"); policies that consider the situation of the entire labor market (middle-aged and elderly people, women) are necessary.

3. Panel Discussion

(Ito)

• Unemployment and unsteady employment are rising among young people. Some causes are: the drastic drop in job offers and strict screening by companies for hiring as a result of a higher level of occupational ability required. This is a serious issue, also from the viewpoint of ability accumulation and career formation of young people.
• With the "Independence and Challenge Plan for Young People," we are trying to promote occupational independence among young people by deterring graduates from becoming unemployed or unsteadily employed and by facilitating a change toward steady jobs.

(Shigematsu)

• The Trial Week implemented in Hyogo Prefecture was carried out in all public junior high school second-year classes for five days. It is intended to bolster the will of the students and to allow them to think about the kind of workplace in which they would like to obtain their job experience. Although there are welfare and cultural activities as well, more than 70 percent choose job experience. The promotional system includes the whole prefecture from the start and is not limited to schools or educational committees. Companies participate in the matching process in the community and thus this program is being promoted as a prefectural movement.
• Here are some of the results: the students now exchange greetings; a linkage between students and community was formed; the students obtained broader perspectives; and the students had view about their future courses.
• Students begin to take initiative from the 3rd day of this occupational experience and obtain an idea of their accomplishment in five days. This is why five days are necessary for this program.

(Murata)

• Each person's perspective of labor has become diversified; therefore, finding the right employment must be through measures fit for each person. In the UK, since counselors at New Deal can implement the budget on their own discretion, they can meet the needs of each person in an individual-to-individual system. In the US, the Career Center allocates a counselor close to the age of young people. In France's public employment security office, which has capital from the National Federation of Commerce and Industry Workers, through contracts with the private sector, the job seeker's market value is assessed and training is provided.
• In career education, Western countries have a long period of internship. In the US, by job shadowing, you can shadow a worker with a job you are interested in and observe his/her job. With the state's future industrial structure in mind, there is emphasis on training human resources in the medical field.
• Students should be taught various forms of employment and the differences in social systems, including relatively atypical forms like outsourcing. Students should be also taught career formation through role-play models so that young people would not be left unemployed, since so much emphasis was placed on career formation.

(Mitani)

• It is important to respond to young people as early as possible. Individual-to-individual measures are effective.

(Genda)

• The following are three key concepts regarding employment of young people.
• First, it is important to respond to the individual. It is important that the individual feels that he/she is being assisted. Individual assistance and adults to link companies and schools are necessary for Trial Week as well.
• Second, local governments should take the initiative. Since NEETs lack practical information, it is necessary to actually be in the communities.
• Third, coordination between NPOs and government as well as between labor administration and educational administration is important. The method adopted in Hyogo and Toyama prefectures should be expanded nationwide. To do so, assistance from the national budget is necessary.
• In addition, we should think about why young people should work.

(Ito)

• Prefectures must establish "job cafes" to reflect regional situations and problems.
• By taking advantage of NPOs, there are creative assistance methods to attract young people, like young people attending to other young people.
• At job cafes, attending to the individual is an important perspective.

(Shigematsu)

• Trial Week, which allows about three participants in one group, operates in small numbers.
• During Trial Week, coordination with families to help motivate the students, and coordination with companies to explore the world of the workplace are important.

(Murata)

• Regarding strict screening for hiring, there is the example of a training tax in France which is imposed on companies that only employ workers with occupational abilities that can immediately become part of a company's workforce.

4. Floor Open Discussion

(Floor 1)

• Doesn't the lack of motivation to work among NEETs result from Japan's general low labor demand?

(Floor 2)

• Aren't "parasite singles" a cause for NEET-like behavior as well?
• Isn't there a need to develop high-level occupational capacities?
• Doesn't the social security burden cause cheap labor demand on the part of companies?

(Floor 3)

• Do teachers have motivation when introducing employment at schools?

(Genda)

• Although the recession is affecting NEETs, the issue of education and home environment is important.
• Parasite singles are not a cause of NEETs, but a result.
• To sustain young people's motivation to work, it is better that they understand that it is possible to work even if they don't have a high-level occupational ability.
• The influence of Japan's social security burden on labor demand is large.
• Teachers' burden for introducing employment at schools is heavy, and there is a need to secure personnel. It is not a question of motivation.
• It is a fact that the school attendance rate of students who did not attend school rises after participating fully in the five-day Trial Week. While there is no clear prescription for junior high school students not attending school, the significance of the job-experiencing program for 14-year-olds, partial as it may be, as a chance to search for a place to be and to make a fresh start, is not small.

(Mitani)

• The system of introducing employment by schools, which is particular to Japan, should be further enhanced. Coordination with labor administration is necessary.

(Ito)

• Job cafe holds seminars for teachers and parents.

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