Articles

The Japanese Labour Market: National Peculiarities

Vostok/Oriens '2015, №1

 
Despite considerable changes in country’s economy and society during last two decades, the Japanese labour market has preserved a number of distinguishing features, such as deep watershed between regular and non-regular employees, insufficient rate and distinctive forms of women participation in economic activities, the practice of compulsory retirement of workers reached age-limit, etc. In a considerable degree they are the results of the adherence of national companies to the principles of specific system of labour management. The preservation of traditional features of Japanese labour market has brought a number of painful social problems, such as polarization of youth by income level and social status, the appearance of different groups of “non-standard” young people, the sharp increase of the number and share of unmarried young Japanese, the decline of birth rate and so on. It became also one of the factors that impede country’s return on the way of stable economic growth. Seemingly, without radical changes of labour market Japan hardly will be able to solve a problem of labour force shortage which becomes more and more keen as a result of “silver tsunami”, that is the rapid ageing of Japanese population.

Keywords: labour market, life-time employment, regular and non-regular workers, freeters, seniority wage system, training and career, women employment, compulsory retirement

Pages: С. 97–109