Labor market of Japan
It allows employees to learn broad skills to achieve in long-term perspective through job rotation and on-the-job training which is likely to be firm-specific.
[5] However, Japan has shifted to US-type regulation and capitalism after the burst of economic bubble, and Japanese firms have introduced two developments: 1) performance-related pay, and 2) non-regular employment such as part-time, temporary and hiring through human resource agencies.
It was suggested that this system cannot be efficacious for typical Japanese firms where skill-based wages motivate employees to gain experience and build their abilities.
Employers find hiring a big challenge because of the labor shortage, together with the risk aversion nature of Japanese people.
These challenges multiply if the company does not have a big brand name or wishes to hire bilingual people with Japanese and English language skills.
Institutionally, Japanese government has been making efforts to close the wage gap and offer better family policies, as part of womenomics proposed under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2013.
This view holds that loyalty to the company has developed as a result of job security and a wage system in which those with the greatest seniority reap the highest rewards.
During the postwar economic reconstruction, the backbone of the labor force was, of course, made up of people born before World War II.
In the late twentieth century, these people were being replaced by generations born after the war, and there were indications that the newcomers had different attitudes toward work.
A survey by the Management and Coordination Agency revealed that a record 2.7 million workers changed jobs in the one-year period beginning October 1, 1986, and the ratio of those who switched jobs to the total labor force matched the previous high recorded in 1974 (one year after the first oil crisis).
Another indication of changing worker attitudes is the number of people meeting with corporate scouts to discuss the possibility of switching jobs.
Traditionally, Japan has had strict laws regarding the employment of foreigners, although exceptions were made for certain designated activities, provided that the workers have attended a Japanese university and have a high level of Japanese-language proficiency.
[12] More recent studies suggest that Japan has struggled to attract potential migrants despite immigration laws being relatively lenient (especially for high-skilled workers) compared to other developed countries.
[23][24] Despite the now-reversed upward trend in the unemployment rate, many unpopular jobs go unfilled and the domestic labor market is sluggish.
Imported labor is seen as a solution to this situation by some employers, who hire low-paid foreign workers, who are, in turn, enticed by comparatively high Japanese wages.
The outsourcing helped to build local infrastructure and started a technological transfer, and some of the former subsidiaries and joint ventures developed into fierce competitors.
China has become an exporter of labor to Japan to perform low wage "3K" jobs: Kitsui (demanding), Kitanai (dirty), and Kiken (dangerous).
Undocumented workers tend to find jobs based on their personal networks whereas Brazilians do so through institutionalized channels, including recruiting agencies, and are paid more.
