Society

32,000 workers in Japan fired amid pandemic

Jul 08 (NHK) - Japan's labor ministry says over 32,000 workers have been discharged by their employers or faced contract nonrenewal amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ministry officials counted 32,348 such workers from the end of January through last Friday. Some 4,000 were added over the past week. The figures were taken from job placement agencies nationwide and other sources.

Of those who lost their jobs, 5,966 worked at hotels and inns, 5,272 worked in manufacturing and 4,408 worked at pubs and restaurants.

A total of 11,798 non-regular workers such as part timers and temporary staffers have lost their jobs since late May, when the ministry began compiling data by form of employment.

The ministry says about 232,500 businesses were eligible as of Friday for subsidies for retaining jobs amid requests for closures and cutbacks. It has already decided to pay out an equivalent of 1.68 billion dollars.

Officials says it will continue to urge businesses to make use of the subsidy program because it will likely become harder for them to keep workers.

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