The number of non-regular workers with employment contracts of up to one year increased by 995,000, or 14.8%, in 2005 from 2000, a government report showed Wednesday, underscoring that companies are refraining from employing regular workers to cut labor costs.

The number of non-regular employees totaled 7,716,000 in 2005 while that of regular workers with contracts of more than one year fell 1,425,000, or 3.4%, to 40,617,000, according to census figures released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

 http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/397788