This is not just scary any-longer this is just very heartbreaking!
TOKYO, Japan – The 61-year-old construction worker had walked by these sorts of people before: Bums he always quietly called them. Homeless, these men and women slept in the parks and looked as if they didn’t have much to look forward to. As he now stood in line for a hot meal in Hibiya Park, the man told us he couldn’t believe he was one of them. “I wasn’t ready when this happened,” he said, breaking down in tears. “It happened all of a sudden. That’s why I ended up here.” The construction worker, who asked us not to use his name, was told on Christmas Eve that his company was bankrupt. He was already living paycheck to paycheck in Tokyo, one of the world’s highest rent cities. One of the benefits of the job, he said, was corporate housing. Now he was out of a job and a home. Restructuring has already begun at Japan’s major companies like Sony, Canon, Toyota, and Honda. Those export-driven companies depend on the hunger of the global consumer. But as the credit crunch narrows the ability to borrow and consumer confidence plummets around the world, those companies are posting record losses and looking to staunch the red. Job cuts are part of the equation. Toyota announced this week it would try and save as many full-time jobs as possible but that 3000 temporary workers would be cut by the end of 2009. http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/09/japans-temporary-workers-in-the-cold/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World-thread" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
