Japanese Personnel Management and Flexibility Today

Abstract

In 1995, the Japanese Employers Association (JEA) presented its new policy for personnel and labour management, emphasizing the changes in Japanese personnel and labour management. A characteristic of the JEA's new policy was the increasing flexibility (flexibilization) of employment, wages, promotion and labour–management relations across all fields of business. The need for flexibilization is attributed to progress in information technology, globalization and fundamental changes in employment and work. In response to these drastic changes, the JEA proposed ‘new Japanese management’, involving such things as an increase in types of contract, promotion, etc., based on performance, variable working hours and flexitime. These proposals have not been completely realized, but movement towards flexibilization in personnel and labour management has occurred. However, over the same period, various serious problems have developed in the Japanese economy, including higher unemployment and resultant destabilization in employment, and loss of the will to work among younger people. These problems compound the difficulty of introducing a performance-based employment system, and raise the need for a different programme of reform, one that does not consist solely of placing more burdens on the workforce.