With the legal employment rate of disabled workers raised from 2.5% to 2.7% in July 2026, companies with 37.5 or more workers will be required to have at least one employee with disabilities. This article looks at the summary of companies’ reports on the status of employment of disabled workers for FY2025, recently disclosed by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
[1] Number of workers with disabilities, types of disabilities
The total number of disabled workers employed by companies with 40 or more employees was 704,610, hitting a record high for 22 consecutive years. The number rose by 27,148.5 from the previous year. Hiring of workers with all types of disabilities has also increased. Particularly, employment of people with mental illness has surged to exceed the number of workers with intellectual disabilities.
- Workers with physical disabilities 373,914.5 (up 1.3% y-o-y)
- Workers with intellectual disabilities 162,153.5 (up 2.8% y-o-y)
- Workers with mental illness 168,542.0 (up 11.8% y-o-y)
[2] Actual employment rate
Actual employment rates by company size are as follows (numbers of the previous year in the brackets): companies with 40-99 employees, 1.94% (1.96%); 100-299 employees, 2.18% (2.19%); 300-499 employees, 2.27% (2.29%); 500-999 employees, 2.41% (2.48%); 1,000 or more employees, 2.69% (2.64%). Actual employment rates have declined, except for companies with 1,000 or more employees.
[3] Directive for achieving the legal target
Companies with a low employment rate receive directive from the Public Employment Security Office (Hello Work) to achieve the legal target in the flow described below.
Reporting on the status of employment of disabled workers (as of June 1, every year)
↓
Order to make a two-year hiring plan of disabled workers
↓
Recommendation for appropriate execution of the hiring plan
↓
Special instruction
↓
Disclosure of company names
Following is the status of the directive in FY2024.
Issuance of an order to make a hiring plan: 446 companies
Recommendation for appropriate execution of the hiring plan: 62 companies
Special instruction: 37 companies
In total, 338 firms are currently executing a hiring plan.
Companies failing to meet the legal target or are likely to fall below the target in the future are advised to increase hiring of disabled workers continuously and make efforts to retain them.
[Reference]
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, “Summary of company reports on the status of employment of disabled workers for FY2025”
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_67490.html
“Support for companies that hired disabled workers”
*The information is based on laws and regulations as of the date of the original article.
