Fostering Exchanges for Mutual Understanding
Worker Exchanges

(1)

Worker exchanges provide an opportunity for us to learn about different experiences in the employment sphere, and serve as a useful backdrop to the development of future employment policies. The exchanges also make a valuable contribution in tackling employment problems on both a bilateral and worldwide scale.

(2)

The inaugural "Symposium on Human Resource Development as We Move into the 21st Century -- Developing the Skills of White Collar Workers," held in March 1994, attracted some 50 representatives from Japan and 100 from the United States. The second symposium, held in April 1995, was entitled "Job Seeking, Leaving/Changing Jobs and Unemployment -- Toward Realizing the Capabilities of Youth." Delegates debated ways to harness the full potential of young people in both countries, the concept of the ideal worker, and relationships between government, industry and workers, and also exchanged information on government labor policies and the worker exchange program itself.