Haken-giri (派遣切り) is the Japanese term for layoffs of temporary employees (haken) dispatched to companies by staffing agencies. In particular, it refers to the wave of layoffs that followed the financial crisis of 2008, which highlighted recent structural changes in the Japanese labor market and prompted calls for reform of the labor laws. Estimates of the number of layoffs between October 2008 and March 2009 range from 131,000, according to the Ministry of Health…