Current Status of Employment Support for Persons with Disabilities in Urban Areas of Japan, and Issues with the Government’s Current Policies

Abstract

Support for “Continuation of Employment of Persons with Disabilities in Type A Workplaces” （workplaces that hire the disabled as normal employees）, is necessary in order to allow employment of people with disabilities, and others who have difficulty finding jobs, especially in a society with an insufficient labor force. The author conducted a survey in an interview format of Type A employers working with support centers for continuous employment of the disabled in rural and urban areas that meet the designation criteria under the “Act on Comprehensive Support for Persons with Disabilities”. The survey results clarify the current status of the operations of these businesses and the supported provided, as well as the position of persons with disabilities in the labor system, and the effectiveness of the operations of support centers for Type A employers.

This paper will report the result of an analysis of survey results for urban areas, which reveal that the support centers for Type A employment are playing complementary roles to the insufficient government employment policies for persons with disabilities. In addition, we will discuss the current status of employment for persons with disabilities in urban areas, and how such employment can be improved in the future.