Japan’s labor market is tight, and higher wages may be needed to retain workers
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Re: Japan’s labor market is tight, and higher wages may be needed to retain workers
#2Partly this is a recognition that Japan Inc. has historically awarded a blended compensation package which includes salary, benefits similar to most first-world countries, and a host of non-pecuniary terms which are not broadly enjoyed across all W-2 employees in the US. ("Expectation of lifetime employment" is a biggie; there are substantially more subtle terms, too, like "We're going to take care of you, and we sincerely mean that, and you trust us to sincerely mean that.
This will manifest itself in behaviors which American companies would describe as quixotic to irrational to outright disturbing[+].")
The non-pecuniary terms have been weakening in recent years but salaries have not been increasing at anything approaching parity. The non-pecuniary terms are not small relative to the total notional compensation package.
One reason that Japanese companies are having difficulty hiring folks is that their candidates have marked-to-market the non-pecuniary terms. There is a totally defensible reason to value Toyota's standard offer as of 1975 at being worth an integer multiple of the salary part of the package. It is very, very difficult to make the case that a traditionally managed Japanese company's non-pecuniary terms are presently worth $50~$100k per year given that one will be taking advantage of them in 2017 to 2062 as opposed to 1975 to 2020.
[+] One of my first conversations with a boss at a traditionally managed Japanese company involved my expected timeline to get married and what the company's role in that process would be; my boss assumed that it would be sourcing the bride.
Re: Japan’s labor market is tight, and higher wages may be needed to retain workers
#3> At the same time, baby boomers are approaching retirement
It wouldn't have occurred to me that Japan had a baby boom. I suppose soldiers returning home in despair or in triumph are all looking for comfort and stability.
Re: Japan’s labor market is tight, and higher wages may be needed to retain workers
#4Partly this is a recognition that Japan Inc. has historically awarded a blended compensation package which includes salary, benefits similar to most first-world countries, and a host of non-pecuniary terms which are not broadly enjoyed across all W-2 employees in the US. ("Expectation of lifetime employment" is a biggie; there are substantially more subtle terms, too, like "We're going to take care of you , and we si…
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Re: Japan’s labor market is tight, and higher wages may be needed to retain workers
#5> At the same time, baby boomers are approaching retirement It wouldn't have occurred to me that Japan had a baby boom. I suppose soldiers returning home in despair or in triumph are all looking for comfort and stability.
The last century of Japanese history looks a lot like that of the Western developed nations. (Probably because Japan made itself into a Western-style empire, then got involved in WW2 big time with the Western powers, then got a Western-style American occupation, so…)
Re: Japan’s labor market is tight, and higher wages may be needed to retain workers
#6> At the same time, baby boomers are approaching retirement It wouldn't have occurred to me that Japan had a baby boom. I suppose soldiers returning home in despair or in triumph are all looking for comfort and stability.
The last century of Japanese history looks a lot like that of the Western developed nations. (Probably because Japan made itself into a Western-style empire, then got involved in WW2 big time with the Western powers, then got a Western-style American occupation, so…)
I guess I'd always assumed that the Baby Boom was the result of a victorious end to war, but the other makes sense too.
Was there a baby boom after WWI, or the American Civil War, or other wars that siphoned off a major part of a country's young men?
Re: Japan’s labor market is tight, and higher wages may be needed to retain workers
#7Partly this is a recognition that Japan Inc. has historically awarded a blended compensation package which includes salary, benefits similar to most first-world countries, and a host of non-pecuniary terms which are not broadly enjoyed across all W-2 employees in the US. ("Expectation of lifetime employment" is a biggie; there are substantially more subtle terms, too, like "We're going to take care of you , and we si…
> my boss assumed that it would be sourcing the bride.
Yikes.
Re: Japan’s labor market is tight, and higher wages may be needed to retain workers
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
The last century of Japanese history looks a lot like that of the Western developed nations. (Probably because Japan made itself into a Western-style empire, then got involved in WW2 big time with the Western powers, then got a Western-style American occupation, so…)
I guess I'd always assumed that the Baby Boom was the result of a victorious end to war, but the other makes sense too. Was there a baby boom after WWI, or the American Civil War, or other wars that siphoned off a major part of a country's young men?
Quick googling leads to this StackExchange question regarding WWI. Apparently it didn't see a boom (at least, not in the US?): https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/1026/did-ww1-pro...
Re: Japan’s labor market is tight, and higher wages may be needed to retain workers
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
The last century of Japanese history looks a lot like that of the Western developed nations. (Probably because Japan made itself into a Western-style empire, then got involved in WW2 big time with the Western powers, then got a Western-style American occupation, so…)
I guess I'd always assumed that the Baby Boom was the result of a victorious end to war, but the other makes sense too. Was there a baby boom after WWI, or the American Civil War, or other wars that siphoned off a major part of a country's young men?
Japan may have been the loser, but it also had a big postwar economic boom. To me this seems like the more obvious cause.
Re: Japan’s labor market is tight, and higher wages may be needed to retain workers
#10Partly this is a recognition that Japan Inc. has historically awarded a blended compensation package which includes salary, benefits similar to most first-world countries, and a host of non-pecuniary terms which are not broadly enjoyed across all W-2 employees in the US. ("Expectation of lifetime employment" is a biggie; there are substantially more subtle terms, too, like "We're going to take care of you , and we si…
Wow. Choosing your wife for you? Who and where was this company?!
My experience with a traditionally Japanese run megacorp/zaibatsu in the heart of Tokyo is much more like a traditional western company. The minutia of HR is very Japanese and hard to get your head around, but the broad strokes of salary/bonus/non monetary benefits (I had to look up what pecuniary means) is basically the same.