Lay offs reach Japan

World economy is heavily interconnected and flicker in any economy creates ripples everywhere. So how the Japan will escape the fact that US economy is in down trend ?

In general the credit crunch is hitting everyone. Automobile industry in US is struggling to survive. This has direct impact on Automobile industry in Japan too.

Here is the news article on the same.

Japan too is heavily dependent on Auto-industry and the lay-offs and job-cuts in this segment will have impact on all other sections in Japan.

Japan brace up for the roller-coaster ride , here is my another take on coping with lay-offs

Severance Pay ,

Severance pay is paid for terminating employment .
This can be layoff , job elimination ,restructuring or mutual agreement. If employee agreement do not stipulate any serverance pay , there is no obligation on employer to pay.

But normally employer get rid of any future claims, litigation through signed release along-with Severance Pay.

Severance pay is a positive and good thing from employer ,when job is lost through uncontrolled external circumstances. ( For example current financial turmoil ).

Japan still have the mind-set of life-time employment (Though changing) and hence in most of cases employer pays for loss of employment.In general holiday and other monetary benefits ( other than Bonus ) are also compensated.

Normally bonus is paid - if you are working till the pay-date. Off-course if retrenchment happened unfairly just before bonus , you can complain to labor office. And in good circumstances labor office may negotiate this to fair-portion.

Japanese firms like to keep low profile in such circumstances and in general for employees with two years with firm 3 months of salary plus unused holidays are paid. For more experienced employees up to 5 months plus unused holidays is the norm.

Senior employees and Managers need to negotiate . In a recent financial melt-down there are examples of 18 to 24 months of severance pays tied with signed release.

So there is surely more to watch while leaving too.

Unavoidable Lay offs & Coping with them.

Indian Blogs are buzzed with different views about Jet-layoff . Responses varies from Corporate social responsibility of jet to unavoidable nature of lay-offs .

Though the different views are genuine and true in its nature , the fact remains that Lay offs are reality of our times. ( Air-India's so called unpaid leave is essentially same as the period is pretty long , it is in years ).

In this globalized economy flickering of butterfly in one corner of world creates storms in other part of world. And current economic events are more than that flickering.

First we need to accept the fact that job-loss is going to be part of life. Even the country like Japan ,where life-time employment was norm was not immune from this. Specially after recent financial turmoil.

Now once we accept the fact , lets jot down some points ,

• Always prepare for worst - My one of the mentor used to say keep your CV always polished. ( we were part of a mission critical 24X7 environment where things can go wrong any time ,in spite of all precautions. So be always ready. )
• Never burn bridges and quit on good terms. For a mass lay-off , your performance is not responsible. So pick up a recommendation letter.
• Your network is a best place to start searching job. Even previous employer may have a position for you.
• Do you have unemployment insurance ? It is best bet in mass lay-offs.
  
• How about sharpening skills ? Picking up those skills or courses ,which you always wanted to do .
• Isn't it a good time to take a hard look at your goals and career. This is a good time to think about career-change as well . Little search will show that forced departure opens more satisfying career for many job-seekers.
• Did I mention to keep tight tab on expense and not to use that credit card for a while ?