Japanese Companies Making It Easier for Dispatch Workers to Become Permanent Employees

The gap between dispatch workers and regular employees in Japan has been linked with issues like people not getting married or having children, but a survey by Mynavi found a trend toward companies making it easier to become a permanent employee.

The survey targeted dispatch workers aged between 20 and 59 and received 1,400 valid responses. This was the fifth such survey since it was first conducted in 2019.

Overall, 11.6% of respondents submitted requests to their client company or dispatch service to become a regular employee. This was a 1.1-percentage-point increase compared to 2022 and a 7.7-point rise from 2021. Of those who had submitted requests, 54.9% became regular employees, which was a 5.4-point rise from 2022 and 29.3 points up compared to 2021.

A further 26.4% said they had been asked by either their client company or dispatch service to become a regular employee and while no significant change was seen (0.1-points up from 2022 and a 0.9-point drop from 2021), the percentage among these of dispatch workers who shifted to regular employee status continued to rise, reaching 24.1% (1.7-points up from 2022, 3.2-points up from 2021).

Mynavi’s analysis of this situation was that “while companies had a growing demand for personnel, they were struggling to hire experienced workers. It is thought this was making it easier for dispatch workers, who were already familiar with the company and work duties, to become regular employees.”

A calculation of the hourly pay rises that respondents had received since the time of their initial contracts at their client companies averaged at ¥69. Despite increasing utilities expenses and other living costs, there was only a ¥14 increase compared to 2022.

By job type, the highest pay rise, with ¥122, was in “electricity, IT, engineering,” followed by ¥93 in “telemarketing.” When it came to hourly wages, it appeared there was a gap between actual pay and employees’ envisioned amount of pay. A comparison of respondents’ current hourly wage to their ideal wage revealed an overall gap of ¥204, an ¥8 increase from 2022. The job type that had the largest disparity was “electricity, IT, engineering” with ¥319. The dispatch market is experiencing a shortage of skilled workers due to digital transformation in business operations, so in order to keep workers there is a need to improve wage conditions, such as through pay increases and other measures.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)