Japan's "Lost Generation" of Workers
Business Week has a good article about the problem of underemployment of 25- to 34-year-olds in Japan. These young men and women came of age after the Bubble Collapse and have never been fully integrated into the workforce -- even as the country's economy now recovers.
The article breaks down several groups within this cohort. There's keiyakushain, contract workers at companies paid at lower rates than salarymen; hakenshain, employed by temp agencies; freeters, who go from one dismal job to the next; and NEETS (an acronym coined in Britain for those not employed, in education, or in training).
Although the phenomenon of contract workers receiving less pay and fewer benefits than regular staff for the same work can certainly be found in the US, the Japanese situation is structurally different.
US workers in their 40s and 50s have a hard time gaining full-time employment, especially by high-tech companies. But if you've picked up good skills as a contract worker and you're still in your late 20s or early 30s, it's relatively easy to get full-time employment at your current company or another firm. In Japan, these workers represent a "lost generation," since most firms much prefer hiring new graduates rather than those who have been contract workers for long stretches.
Japan is now making efforts to re-integrate these workers, who number 3.3. million, into the workforce; but at least from what can be gleaned from the BW article, not much is being done. The underemployment raises further difficulties for the country as it tries to lift its birth rate and solve its pension problems.
Business Week has a good article about the problem of underemployment of 25- to 34-year-olds in Japan. These young men and women came of age after the Bubble Collapse and have never been fully integrated into the workforce -- even as the country's economy now recovers.
The article breaks down several groups within this cohort. There's keiyakushain, contract workers at companies paid at lower rates than salarymen; hakenshain, employed by temp agencies; freeters, who go from one dismal job to the next; and NEETS (an acronym coined in Britain for those not employed, in education, or in training).
Although the phenomenon of contract workers receiving less pay and fewer benefits than regular staff for the same work can certainly be found in the US, the Japanese situation is structurally different.
US workers in their 40s and 50s have a hard time gaining full-time employment, especially by high-tech companies. But if you've picked up good skills as a contract worker and you're still in your late 20s or early 30s, it's relatively easy to get full-time employment at your current company or another firm. In Japan, these workers represent a "lost generation," since most firms much prefer hiring new graduates rather than those who have been contract workers for long stretches.
Japan is now making efforts to re-integrate these workers, who number 3.3. million, into the workforce; but at least from what can be gleaned from the BW article, not much is being done. The underemployment raises further difficulties for the country as it tries to lift its birth rate and solve its pension problems.
posted by Bob at 8:37 AM
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