The government has recently announced to leave the mandatory employment rate of workers with disabilities at 2.3% for a year from April 2023, but the rate is scheduled to be increased to 2.5% in April 2024, and to 2.7% in 2026. For companies planning to hire more workers with disabilities, this article looks at the status of disabled workers’ job placement through Hello Work with the Labour Ministry’s fiscal 2022 data.
[1] Numbers of new job applicants and employment
In fiscal 2022, Hello Work received a total of 233,434 new job applications in a 4.2% increase from 223,985 in the previous year.
The total number of newly employed disabled workers was 102,537, growing 6.6% from 96,180 a year ago. Among them, 21,914 were physically disabled workers. The numbers of intellectually disabled workers, psychologically disabled workers and those with other disabilities were 20,573, 54,074, and 5,976, respectively. Since fiscal 2013, employment of physically disabled workers has been outnumbered by cases of psychologically disabled workers. New employment of physically disabled workers has been on the decline over the past ten years, while hiring of workers with intellectual or psychological disabilities has been increasing. (Refer to the chart below.)
[2] Employment status by industry and job types
By industry, there were 39,122 cases of new employment in “medical and welfare” fields, accounting for approximately one-third of the total 102,537 cases. The number of cases in “manufacturing” was 12,765, while there were 11,222 cases in “wholesaling, retailing,” and 10,723 cases in “services.”
By job types, 33,097 were employed for “transport, cleaning, packing, etc.,” making up about one-third of total cases, while 24,383 cases were hiring for “clerical work,” 12,877 for “services,” and 11,977 for “manufacturing processes.” Among physically disabled workers, the rate of employment in “clerical work” was the highest, while “transport, cleaning, packing, etc.” was the highest among workers with intellectual or psychological disabilities.
Companies planning to recruit disabled workers provide recruitment information through Hello Work. There were 240,486 job openings for disabled workers in fiscal 2022, increasing 12.7% from 213,416 a year ago. With the legal employment rate set to be raised, many employers are stepping up efforts to hire disabled workers. Companies should take a prompt action to ensure stable employment.
[Reference]
Labour Ministry, “Status of disabled workers’ employment through Hello Work”
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_33335.html
Hello Work internet service “Employment of persons with disabilities”
https://www.hellowork.mhlw.go.jp/enterprise/sy_employment.html
