I am sure that many of you are aware of the “haken-giri,” or temporary worker cutbacks in Japan (and elsewhere). A majority of Japan’s temporary workers live in company dormitories and without a job, forcing them to leave their home. Temporary workers that do not speak Japanese will find their prospects for re-employment very difficult.Another group of people with struggling employment prospects are the older, middle-aged generation. A quarter of Japan’s temporary workers are over 45-years-old. Not only do they have children and aged parents to support, but their re-employment prospects are much lower than those of the younger generation. With that said, the information below is in from Terrie Lloyd over at Japan, Inc.: Although many of you are already on holiday, we would like to none-the-less take this opportunity to express our appreciation of your willingness to receive and read Terrie's Take. Japan is a place that draws in so much information but gives out so little, and through Terrie's Take we are trying to mend that gap and in so doing encourage more people to do business, invest, marry, educate, and generally interact with Japan. Indeed, opening up Japan is our life mission.So we would like to wish you all, regardless of your religious beliefs, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.Unfortunately, one person who isn't having such a good Christmas is Ken Joseph, the head of the JHELP organization, which assists foreigners in Japan with their legal and personal problems, and is available to lend a hand to distressed and abandoned people 24 hours a day. Ken emailed us yesterday and told us that of the tens of thousands of firings going on at Japanese auto and electronics makers at present, the brunt of the lay-offs are being borne by the large non-Japanese migrant worker community. In the last two days alone, he has had numerous calls from worried and depressed workers who have lost their jobs. But for some it is worse. One call was from a lady turfed out of her home with her baby, and another was from a man who was fired from his factory job and also told to leave his company dormitory. Both of them have no money and nowhere to go.It is JHELP's job to talk to the embassies, church groups, and in some cases the police, to try to help such people find respite and safety.Ken tells us that his organization, JHELP urgently needs donations to pay for the increased volume of phone calls and demands on the premises of his Help Desk operation. He has asked if Terrie's Take readers might be willing to make a small gift at his new donation web page (produced for him by our sister company LINC Media).We are already subscribed, donating JPY3,000 per month (the site only takes recurring donations) to do our bit. We realize that JPY3,000 is a small amount, but if one hundred people were to do the same thing then the resulting income would allow JHELP to pay its rent and phone bills, andinstead they could focus more on solving people's problems.So we do wish you a Merry Christmas, but also respectfully suggest that you consider helping Ken help those in our community who are in need -- and certainly with the deteriorating economy there are going to be a lot more of them from next year. While most of us think of Japan as a country that takes care of its citizens, for those who are not citizens, it is all to easy to fall through the cracks.If you feel that you can spare JPY3,000 per month, then please go to:https://www.lincmedia.co.jp/jhelp/index.html?lang=en and give what you can. For more information on JHELP, go to www.jhelp.com.We'll be back with the next Terrie's Take on January 11th,2009....The information janitors