Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama held the first meeting of the Headquarters for Emergency Employment Measures at the Prime Minister's Office.

In light of the current severe employment situation, the Cabinet made the decision during its meeting on October 16 to establish the Headquarters for Emergency Employment Measures, chaired by Prime Minister Hatoyama, to help the government as a whole implement employment measures.

In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Hatoyama said, "The second meeting of the Headquarters will be held on the 23rd. Though time is thus quite limited, I request that Emergency Employment Measures be compiled in the coming week. The measures should be designed in such a way to allow a swift response to an employment situation which may differ each day. In addition to developing safety-net measures for employment, I also call on the Headquarters to make job creation programs an urgent matter. I ask that these programs and measures be created in a week, bearing in mind that this is the most important issue for the people."

With the intent of settling on Emergency Employment Measures in the second meeting on October 23, Prime Minister Hatoyama gave instructions during the meeting to each minister to swiftly take action. Three basic viewpoints outlined by the Prime Minister for Emergency Employment Measures are: (i) To make swift and flexible responses to differing situations; (ii) To make assistance to the poor, those in need, and college graduates a top priority; and (iii) To make thorough efforts for job creation. These viewpoints will positioned around two pillars: (i) Emergency Assistance Measures, which include assistance for the poor and those in need who are searching for jobs, assistance for college graduates, assistance for employment retention efforts by companies, and assistance for small- and medium-sized enterprises; and (ii) Emergency Job Creation Programs, which include employment strategies for each prioritized area such as nursing care and green employment.