"Jesus came into Galilee" - Bad Employment in Japan

Snow Falling around Tokyo

On January 14

Bad Employment in Japan

One of big social concerns in Japan is a kind of flourishing of businesses that exploit young people.

In Japan almost all the university graduates are employed in April as they graduate from colleges and universities in March.  The job-hunting season for Japanese students is almost virtually specified so as to meet this social custom of starting to work in April.

Decades ago, university graduates were expected to work in companies that hired them on their graduation till their retirement, since university graduates were regarded as elites in society.  But as time went by, the ratio of university graduates in the same generation increased, and work environments greatly changed in Japan along with introduction of IT technologies and due to intensified global competition.  So, labor mobility increased, and career change came to be regraded as minor disadvantage for young people, though it once worked very unfavorably for Japanese workers before.

But the first company young university graduates start to work after leaving schools is important.  They are still expected to work there for at least one year or so before switching companies.  But if the company is run by bad management, young workers cannot stay there even for one year.

Such a bad company uses university graduates as mere copy boys or errand runners without giving them a chance to learn business know-hows and accumulate business skills.  And, within one year, such a company tries to push young workers out of it to hire new graduates in the next spring, thus saving labor costs.  They start to treat young workers harshly and get cruel to them, forcing them to quit voluntarily.  Then the rotten management can recruit new university students in the next job-hunting season without a penalty on them.

Those bad companies are called "black businesses" in Japan today.  Such companies can be found mostly in the service sector, including the computer software business sector and the restaurant business.

Nonetheless, young people in Japan seem to enjoy better employment situations, since the whole unemployment rate in Japan is 4.1% as of November 2012.

University students who were employed by businesses and any social bodies accounted for 93.6% of all the graduates as of April 1, 2012 and who received unofficial job offer from businesses they wanted to be employed accounted for 63.1% as of October 2012.  



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Mar 1:14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
Mar 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.