Lifetime Employment is Back in Vogue
Monday, January 15, 2007 Posted: 04:22 PM JST
A survey by the Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development entitled "Survey on Views of Newly Employed Employees in Fiscal Year 2006" shows that some 30 percent of the new employees surveyed, the highest proportion in the last ten years, said that they would like to work for their current company for the rest of life. The figure was 14.2 percent in 1998.
On the other hand, the proportion of young workers who answered that it is better to switch companies if one finds a firm offering better conditions was at a record low, 36.5 percent. The proportion of those who answered that they would like to set up their own company independently rather than moving up the ladder within the present company was 25.7 percent, a drop of 3.3 percentage points from the survey conducted at the same time the previous year.
The survey results suggest that, while the employment situation has improved due to a pickup in business, younger workers seem to sense severe competition in the workplace and opt for the practice of lifelong employment.
The survey targeted 1,290 participants in training programs for new recruits, which the Center carried out in the spring and the autumn last year (effective return rate: 66.1%).
Keywords: national_news
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