I am unsure exactly what kind of worker 派遣 refers to. They might be messengers? Or I think maybe they are temporary workers who are "dispatched" to employers?

There was a tent city erected in 日比谷公園 (Hibiyakoen) in Tokyo, from December 31 through January 5, 年越し派遣村 (Toshikoshihakenmura - New Year's Eve Dispatch Workers Village), to provide temporary housing for anyone who has lost a job or is in need of housing due to the financial crisis.

Can anyone help me understand exactly what a "Dispatch worker" is?

In Japanese:

http://hakenmura.alt-server.org/

And in English:

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asah...10042.html

Thanks in advance...

From Wikipedia:

Quote:人材派遣（じんざいはけん）とは、主として労働者派遣を意味する用語で、これを行う業のことを人材派遣業という。この語が使用される文脈では、おおむね労働者派遣法に定義された「労働者派遣事業」と同義で使用される。労働者派遣事業については労働者派遣事業を参照。

多くの場合労働者派遣を意味する「人材派遣」であるが、この用語は、大手の労働者派遣事業者が用いている。例として、スタッフサービスやテンプスタッフがある。また、業界団体である社団法人はその名に「人材派遣」の語を用いている。

Basically it's a job where people do whatever work they are given, primarily geared towards staffing large corporations when they are needed. Basically temporary workers, or 派遣 as they are called, sign no contracts, and when they aren't needed, they can be fired with the drop of a pin. Toyota actually just fired hundreds of their temporary workers recently becuase of the current economic conditions, and because they were 派遣, there wasn't really anything they could do.

It looks like this website/event is trying to bring attention to these people.

Read the rest of the Wikipedia article for more information.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%BA%E...E%E9%81%A3

Isn't it the same as temp work in the US?

Interesting. It sounds closer to the contract employee (is that the right term?) system that some software companies such as Microsoft use but with additional obfuscation, rather than actual temp labor in the US.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%B4%E...E%E9%81%A3

Here's a little bit better description of the system.

Basically, if you're a haken employee, the company you work at is not actually your employer.... you're technically employed by someone else and that company decides where you work. But I think there's various patterns to the thing as far as details with contracts go.... but if you're familiar with Manpower in the US, I believe it's a similar set up, although obviously Japanese contract/employment law is a little different.

All,

Thanks very much for your comments. It does appear that being a "temporary worker" in Japan is rather different than in the US. I certainly would never expect that anyone would establish a tent city for temporary workers in NY! Anyway, these articles now make a bit more sense. Thanks again...

And now I wonder... if I were to move to Japan to teach English, would I be hired as a 派遣？

It depends on what program you go with/who you work for. If you go the ALT route and aren't on the JET Program, then there's a pretty good chance you'll have a haken-like situation... the number of teachers employed like this has been on the rise as of late due to a number of reasons. With eikaiwa you're typically hired directly by the company/school you work for, so you're not haken.

My contract is haken-like, btw... there are pros and cons to it. My company has another fancy word for the contract that I forget.... but most of my coworkers use haken to describe my situation.