The LDP's Administrative Reform Promotion Headquarters (Chairman: Yoshio Mochizuki, member of the House of Representatives) held a plenary session on July 8 to discuss two government proposals: "basic guidelines on total payroll for central government employees" and "basic guidelines for the management of organizations and staffing."
The fundamental concept in the basic guidelines on total payroll is to restrain structural growth in payroll expenses. The proposal includes a review of retirement benefit levels every five years and other measures to ensure parity with the private sector. The basic guidelines for the management of organizations and staffing mandate staffing rationalizations of at least 2% per year (10% over five years) for government ministries and agencies as a whole.
In June, there was a cabinet decision on the standards used to hire and promote central government employees, and cabinet decisions approving the two new guidelines are expected in the near future. The plenary session began with an explanation of the two proposals from the Cabinet Personnel Bureau, followed by discussions. Legislators asked from where, specifically, the staffing cuts would come, and what concepts would be used to reduce and rationalize departments and units within the government ministries and agencies.
Chairman Mochizuki explained that the Cabinet Personnel Bureau had been launched at the end of May to provide centralized management of executive-level employees and to implement the basic guidelines. "The Cabinet Personnel Bureau has to do its work. It is extremely important that we formulate medium and long-term guidelines on payroll, retirement benefits, structures, staffing and other aspects of organization and administration," Mochizuki said. He went on to describe his "desire to create an environment in which public employees can work with confidence and pride to improve the safety and well-being of the Japanese people." The plenary session approved both proposals and tasked Chairman Mochizuki with handling the cabinet decision.
