The
graying corporate patriarchs who put in 12-hour days and
lived only for their jobs are
reaching retirement. Supplanting them are
baby boom managers in their forties. These men have
seen their country and companies prosper but haven’t
fared so well themselves. Land prices have risen faster
than their incomes, forcing them to live modestly in
distant commuter suburbs and strap-hand to work on
overcrowded trains. Some are bitter that years of
double-digit economic growth have left them less
comfortable than their counterparts in many other
countries.
Though
still
loyal to their companies, they are not as willing as
their elders to sacrifice their lives to the economic
good. This generation is well-educated, resourceful, and
highly competitive. Significantly, they value consensus
less and are not quite as group-oriented as their
predecessors.
Holidays, hobbies,
family life are important to them as they seek a
more
balanced, richer life than their
graying seniors.
The
generation of
salariman in their late twenties and thirties
has even less in common with the
generation that rebuilt Japan. They have had lives
of abundance, choice, and easy opportunity. The company
and their personal lives are two separate things. They
are also less inclined to clock up long hours with no
respite. They look for
employers who will make use of their abilities and
provide opportunities. They are less inclined to be
pegged into whatever slot that pleases the personnel
department; and more inclined to change jobs if they
sense more opportunity. This has been very clearly
brought out in video produced for Nippon Steel about
changing values of the new generation.
Interestingly,
to the elder generation that runs and speaks for Japan
Inc., a world without
lifetime employment is hard to imagine. According to
a study by the Labor Ministry, one in two companies feel
that it had a surplus of employees because of the
stagnant economy. Many of these companies will prune
their work-force. Head office staff are being sent to
work in the sales force. Loss-making subsidiaries are
closing down, suppliers are being cut, production jobs
are moving to lower cost centers overseas. But not all
the changes affect jobs so directly. Product life cycles
are lengthening, more parts are being standardized and
excess inventories eliminated. The excesses of Japan’s
‘bubble economy’ of the ‘80s are coming to an end in a
return to the traditional values of thrift, frugality
and diligence. |
