Human Resource
Toyota Australia to axe 350 jobs at southern plant
The Australian arm of Japanese auto giant Toyota announced on 23 January that it would sack 350 workers at its southern auto plant, citing "unprecedented" pressure on its operations.
Aeon to post 1,000 new grads in Asia
Japanese retail giant Aeon Co. plans to station more than 1,000 new employees, all college graduates, in China and Southeast Asia from this year to accelerate its overseas expansion, company officials said on Wednesday.
They will account for one-third of more than 3,000 college graduates Aeon and its group companies in Japan and abroad will recruit in fiscal 2012, which starts in April.
Singapore jobless rate falls to 14-year low
Singapore created 121,300 jobs last year, causing the unemployment rate to fall to 2 percent, a 14-year low.
This put a further squeeze on the already-tight labour market and as a result, two out of every three new jobs went to foreigners.
Overall, the number of foreign workers rose by almost 85,000, including 5,000 maids, according to preliminary Ministry of Manpower figures released on Tuesday.
72pc of listed firms in Japan reject pay-scale hike in wage talks
A total of 72.3 percent of listed firms polled in Japan rejected pay-scale hikes in this spring's wage talks, up 1 percentage point from the previous year, according to a private think tank.
In a report released on Monday, the Institute of Labour Administration also found that 56.7 percent of labour unions believe it is difficult to achieve pay-scale increases this spring.
Taiwan's job openings increase by 3pc since CNY, says job bank
Job openings available on a Taiwanese online job bank have increased slightly by 3 percent since the Lunar New Year holiday, a 104 Job Bank official said on Wednesday. Between Jan. 30-31, the job bank had 300,000 jobs on its books, up 3 percent from before the Lunar New Year holiday, marketing director Regis Chen said at a press conference.
Japan's jobless rate, excluding disaster areas, fell to 4.5pc last year
Japan's unemployment rate, excluding areas hit hard by the earthquake and tsunami last March, dropped to an average of 4.5 percent in 2011 from 5.0 percent the previous year, reflecting the overall economic recovery trend in the country, government data showed on Tuesday.
Job availability also improved last year, but the outlook for the employment market is uncertain with overseas economies slowing and the yen remaining strong against other major currencies.
HP director Babbio to leave board
Hewlett-Packard Co said on Monday long-time director Larry Babbio Jr. will step down, as the technology giant continues to restructure its much-criticised board.
Babbio, along with fellow directors Sari Baldauf and Dominique Senequier, will not stand for re-election at an upcoming shareholders' meeting on 21 March, the company said in regulatory filings.
Taiwan's jobless rate dips to 3-year low of 4.18pc in Dec
Taiwan's jobless rate edged down 0.1 of a percentage point from a month earlier to 4.18 percent in December 2011, for the lowest level of its kind in three years and four months, according to statistics released on Monday by the Cabinet-level Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS). Chen Min, a deputy division chief at the DGBAS, attributed the decline in the December unemployment rate to the decrease of 11,000 in the unemployed population, which stood at 471,000 as of the end of the month.
Robert Walters expands Asia footprint with new Nanjing office
Robert Walters PLC, one of the world's leading specialist professional recruitment consultancies, announced this month earlier the expansion of its Asian network with a new office in Nanjing, China.
Korea to expand support for hiring foreign workers
The South Korean government will expand financial support for small- and medium-sized enterprises that find it difficult to hire highly educated foreign workers due to budget constraints. The prime minister's office said on Thursday that the government will raise the maximum subsidy for small and mid-sized companies that hire highly qualified foreigners from KRW10-20 million (USD8897-USD 17,794) to KRW30m. The financial support period will be extended from one year to a maximum of three years, it said.
