Arya News - The enhanced program also upgraded a scheme for compensating transferees who are concerned that their salaries will decrease if they were to take up the new positions. With the upgraded system, the government hopes that businesses in provincial areas will better utilise the workers’ high-level expertise.
TOKYO – The government is enhancing a system to encourage middle-aged workers in major companies to move into positions at midsize and small companies in provincial regions.
The enhanced program also upgraded a scheme for compensating transferees who are concerned that their salaries will decrease if they were to take up the new positions.
With the upgraded system, the government hopes that businesses in provincial areas will better utilize the workers’ high-level expertise.
In September last year, Hitoshi Nakayama, 53, left a position as chief of the general affairs division of a major auto parts manufacturer to take a job at Tobu Trading Co., a firm based in Matsubushi, Saitama Prefecture, that handles industrial waste.
“I wanted to utilize my experiences and skills in accounting and facility management,” Nakayama said.
He registered with REVICareer, a human resources database operated by Regional Economy Vitalization Corporation of Japan, and a job search firm that is part of the Chiba Bank group found him in the database and introduced him to Tobu Trading, with which the bank has business dealings.
“We were looking for a talented, skilled worker who could collaborate with other divisions in our company,” said Koji Iwamoto, executive officer of Tobu Trading. “We regularly cooperate with the bank. So we had a high level of trust in its introduction.”
REVICareer, a Financial Services Agency project, began operating in fiscal 2021.
To be eligible to register with the database, the candidate has to have worked at a company with at least ¥1 billion of capital or more than 2,000 employees, or at a subsidiary of such a company. Once registered, job seekers can search for a new job using the database for a period of five years starting from when they leave their workplace.
The information of job seekers registered with the database can be accessed by 156 financial institutions, including regional banks and shinkin banks. The banks can then use that information to find job seekers who are suitable for the needs of their business partners and introduce both sides.
The program also allows the job seekers to take on the new positions as side jobs or concurrent primary occupations while remaining in their full-time positions.
Mismatches between the job seekers and the employers are said to be rare because their introductions are mediated by regional financial institutions that have detailed knowledge about the realities faced by midsize and small firms in the regions.
Differences in salaries and working conditions had been high hurdles for workers moving from major companies to smaller firms. To address this, the Financial Services Agency pays a portion of the salaries of workers who change companies using the database.
Under certain conditions, the workers can receive 30% — up to ¥4.5 million — of their new job’s annual salary from the agency for two years after assuming their new post.
As of the end of fiscal 2024, 4,343 workers were registered in the database, with the average age being 54. The total number of cases in which job seekers changed jobs or found side jobs was 178, a 2.5-fold increase from the 72 cases logged as of the end of fiscal 2023.
The agency has now tripled the program’s budget to ¥2 billion and partnered with the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry.
The agency, through business organizations and chambers of commerce under the ministry’s jurisdiction, aims to encourage midsize and small companies in provincial regions to proactively offer jobs.
Nevertheless, the number of registered job seekers in the REVICareer database is significantly lower than in private-sector job-brokering services, so raising its name recognition is a pressing challenge.
Until last fiscal year, the conditions for job seekers to use the database were limited to current employees of major companies or those who had left jobs at major companies in the past two years. The conditions have been relaxed from this fiscal year to enable the registration of job seekers who have left a major company in the past five years.
An agency official connected to REVICareer said, “We want to increase the number of registered people to about 10,000 and accelerate the revitalization of regional communities.”