Word: temps
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...turns violent and moving, the book includes tales of a hapless jobbing magician who can't help conjuring up severed rabbits' heads at birthday parties, a dithering hard-boiled hit man, and the goddess Venus working as an office temp. Thrown into the mix alongside a clutch of tragically distant fathers is a string of treacherous girlfriends - one of whom demands her beau deliver her the heart of his mother, to prove his love...
...former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, whose reforms encouraged Japanese companies to hire more part-timers like Haruko). Although the full-timers began the series condescending to Haruko, every week she saves the company by showcasing one of the skills she's picked up in her years as a temp - like preparing perfect sashimi. In fact, Haruko's victories are on-screen justice for real-life temps. "It feels good to see Haruko tell full-timers things that you cannot say face-to-face," says Kaoru Ishizaki, an office manager in Yokohama who is a fan of the show...
...Hinkaku, has the sort of job skills that should get her hired on the spot. She can program a computer, chop sushi, speak Russian, operate heavy equipment - and this being Japan, pour tea. But Haruko doesn't have a full-time job. She's a part-timer, a temp - hence the title of the show, which roughly translates to "the dignity of temp workers...
...Haruko tells her full-time colleagues that "overtime is not in my vocabulary," leaves work precisely at 6 p.m. and in between contracts, flies to Spain to work on her flamenco dancing (don't ask). When the company offers her a permanent job, she turns them down, preferring a temp's freedom to the corporate ideal. That attitude appeals to young Japanese who might actually want a life outside of work...
...trouble is, few temps can actually earn a living wage. Almost 40% of contract workers receive salaries that are less than 80% of a full-time wage, contrary to government guidelines. Haruko may command top yen on TV, but good luck jetting to Madrid on your off days when you make less than $11,000 a year, as 34% of male and 55% of female part-timers do. And even putting salary concerns aside, many of those part-timers would still opt for full-time employment if they could. Despite the damage it sustained during the lost decade...