Coronavirus-Linked Layoffs Near 30,000 in Japan

Tokyo, June 30 (Jiji Press)--The number of workers confirmed to have been laid off because of the coronavirus crisis came to 29,237 as of Monday in Japan, according to labor ministry data. Amid the severe employment situation, the number of jobless people in May increased by 190,000 from the previous month to a three-year high of 1.97 million, according to a labor report released by the internal affairs ministry Tuesday. The spread of COVID-19 has battered employment especially hard in the tourism industry. The number of workers in the hotel and restaurant industry decreased from a year before for five months in a row, according to the labor report. Workers placed on leave numbered 790,000 in the industry, highest among the surveyed industries. The tourism-oriented prefecture of Okinawa became the only prefecture in Japan with the ratio of job openings to seekers below one. But there are some bright signs. More employees are returning to work after the government lifted its coronavirus state of emergency in stages in May. Of those on leave in April, 44 pct returned to work in May, while 6.6 pct lost their jobs and the rest were still on leave, according to the report. In April, the number of workers on leave hit a record 5.97 million, raising concerns that the number of jobless people would surge. In May, the effective job openings ratio, which represents the number of jobs available for each registered job seeker, recorded its second-largest drop month on month. But this partly stemmed from an increase in the number of job seekers following the lifting of the state of emergency. In addition, the number of employed people and new job openings both turned higher month on month. "Economic activities resumed further," a labor ministry official said. "We can see some positive moves." END