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Japan postal system to have more employees after privatization+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, May 2_(Kyodo) _ Japan Post Corp. came up with a draft postal system privatization plan Tuesday calling for increasing the number of employees in defiance of the rationalization as a key goal of the privatization starting in October 2007. Under the draft plan, credit card business and sales of products offered by private insurers are among the new businesses envisaged after privatization. Japan Post Corp., created in January to prepare for the privatization of Japan Post, a public corporation in charge of postal services, will become a holding company on Oct. 1 next year. At that time, the public corporation will be split into four units to be placed under the holding firm. Under the draft plan, the number of employees for Japan Post Corp. and its four units is projected at 263,500, some 6,000 more than the present number of employees for the postal system. The projected total consists of 133,000 for a post office network company, 109,000 for a mail service firm, 12,000 for a postal savings bank, 5,500 for an insurance company and 4,000 for Japan Post Corp. The number of employees would rise as the four operating units would each have respective back-office divisions, Japan Post Corp. officials said. The draft plan is expected to come under fire for the increase in the number of employees and undergo major revisions before an outline of the final plan is compiled at the end of July. Among the four units, the draft plan says, the postal savings bank would start handling credit card and personal loan services. It would directly run 200 to 250 branches including 50 that would lead post offices in selling financial products. The insurance company would sell healthcare insurance in addition to postal life insurance products available at present. It would have 80 branches. The mail service company would expand its international distribution services while maintaining the present mail services. The post office network firm would run about 24,700 offices to serve as sales agents for the other three and sell goods and private insurance products. |