NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
The result of the 2007 Employment Status Survey
The Statistics Bureau of Japan released the result of the 2007 Employment Status Survey on 3 July, 2008. This survey aims to obtain basic data on the actual conditions of the employment structure at both national and regional levels by surveying the usual labour force status in Japan.
This paper introduces major results including employment, irregular employees, and working hours.
The number of persons engaged in work increased by 968 thousand and persons not engaged in work increased by 159 thousand compared with 2002
The population aged 15 years old and over was 110,302 thousand, as of 1 October, 2007. The number of persons engaged in work was 65,978 thousand, while that of persons not engaged in work was 44,324 thousand.
The number of those engaged in work increased by 968 thousand and those not engaged in work also increased by 159 thousand, compared with 2002.
The percentage of those engaged in work in the population aged 15 years old and over (Percentage of those engaged in work) was 59.8%, which increased by 0.3 points compared with 2002.
This increase is mainly attributable to the increases of females engaged in work and males aged 60-64 years, which is related to the rise of the age at which pensions are payable.
Trend of Change in the "Number of persons engaged in work" , "Number of persons not engaged in work" and percentage of "Engaged in work"
![Trend of Change in the [Number of persons engaged in work] , [Number of persons not engaged in work] and percentage of [Engaged in work]](img/1878z1.jpg)
One in three employees is an irregular employee
The percentage of irregular employees* was 35.5%, a rise of 3.6 points compared with 2002, meaning more than one in three employees was an irregular employee.
During the period 1987 to 2007, the percentage for males rose from 9.1% to 19.9% and reached approximately 20%, while the percentage for females rose from 37.1% to 55.2%; exceeding 50%.
Trend of percentage of "Irregular employees" by sex
![Trend of percentage of [Irregular employees] by sex](img/1878z2.jpg)
Employees *----- Employees other than "Executive of company or corporation"
The working hours per week shows a trend to polarize
With regard to employees*, in terms of working hours per week, the percentage of "35 to 42 hours" was the highest (30.7%), followed by "43 to 48 hours" (25.8%) and "49 to 59 hours" (18.6%).
Meanwhile, compared with 2002, the percentage of the work of shorter hours (less than 35 hours) and longer hours (60 hours or more) rose, while that of medium hours decreased. This shows a trend to polarize.
Percentage of employees by working hours per week (worked for 200 days and over per year) 2002 and 2007
