Japanese Company Strategies and New Hires. Updated Oct. 18, 2025.

Japanese companies employing various strategies to retain college hires

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251013/p2g/00m/0bu/026000c

Ideas

New workers today are not the same as workers 5 years, or 10 years ago, even 20 years ago. They have different priorities and ideas about work and companies, globally, need to understand what young graduates today want to and need from a company.

That doesn't mean companies can or should do everything that new graduates want or need to but they should try to find a balance between company needs and the need of today's young workers.

Apps are good and maybe needed but they don't replace the need for companies to understand what today's young workers are like and why they are the way they are.

The traditional Japanese company with it right hierarchy doesn't fit well with workers today as young workers might feel stifled and feel they are never seen or heard and basically are just told to do what is given to them.

What worked in a Japanese company 10 or 20 years ago or even five years ago is not going to work today. With the Japanese economy experiencing a labor shortage now that means workers can easily change jobs if they don't like the working condition of a company that just hired them.

Young workers today, globally, for the most part are looking for better work/life experiences and are not looking for a company that is going to make them work long hours or even weekends.

Of course that might not apply to the high-tek sector with its long hours of sometimes 9 to 6 and 6 days a week but for most companies they use a more normal work schedule.

Some might even be looking for a more remote style of work or a hybrid style of work, with working some days in the office and some days at home or in a coffee shop.

Poor relationships with bosses is always a common complaint among workers but in the past most workers just endured it as they needed the money or the job was OK, but bad enough to quit.

But today young workers might not have the patience or endurance to just keep working in a company where they don't get along with the boss.

And then there is the idea of company culture, which can mean many different things to different workers and again, today, if a young worker doesn't feel comfortable in that company they most likely are going to look for another job, while it the past workers tended to just endure the situation.

It would be interesting, with Japan's labor shortage today, what is the number or workers at different age groups who are leaving and changing jobs as it appears workers in Japan today can more easily find a new job if they don't like their present job.

Of course the 18 to 25 age group might be the most susceptible to change jobs as they have very different job perceptions compared to the 30+ age group or even the 40+ age group.

Knowing and understanding what the well-being of young workers with an app is good and needed but it doesn't take the place of human interaction as again, companies need to know and understand the human interaction side of the equation, which many companies, globally, have failed at doing.

Many companies, not all companies, treat their workers as commodities and or as they can be easily replaced, so they don't take the time to know or learn about their workers as today they are there but tomorrow they might need to get rid of them.

As far as the numbers deteriorating that doesn't mean a new worker is going to give any information that might help a company find out why some workers are unhappy with their jobs as young workers might be too scared to give a company any information.

But at the same time, an app being new and modern, might appeal to some or many young workers and they might feel it can help them communicate with the management of a company about their feelings about the job.

Young workers today, globally, need and want to be heard and they don't want to just be put on a team or given a desk and then forgotten about. Thy want to be seen and heard and they want to feel their actions in the company are treated fairly and given credit for their work.

It's  good and important, as much as possible, that new workers have a choice in where they want to work in a company, and not just put into a department that they have no desire to work at. Of course that might not be possible for all workers to get a job in the department of their choice but it would be good if most new young workers can have a choice, as they feel they have ownership of where they want to work.

There was a recent article that suggested that today many workers in Japan don't want to work overseas as they just want to work in Japan only.

The article went on to suggest that many companies don't provide enough training or education to help them in overseas assignments, leaving the learning to the worker only.

If Japanese companies need or want young workers to take overseas assignments they need to provide the education and training to help them have a positive work experience in their overseas assignments.

Have a nice day!

Bank of Japan and Policy Rate: Updated April1, 2025.

BOJ set to keep policy rate unchanged amid Trump tariff uncertainty

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250318/p2g/00m/0bu/020000c

Ideas:
The Bank of Japan keeping its policy rate unchanged is probably a good idea as there is just too much uncertainty in the global economy right now.

All countries, and companies, either don't know what do to or how to exactly respond to what is going on these days.

Japan is a very resilient economy but in this instance it could really affect Japan's economy, as Japan is a major export country and all exports to the US could be affected.

There are many sectors in the US that could see increases as steel and aluminum is part of many products and unfortunately, as prices go up in the US demand for those products will decrease. 

The same can happen with Japanese cars in the US, and as prices increase US consumers will possibly think twice about buying a Japanese car, even though they like Japanese cars, and the same for other other foreign cars that US consumers might like.

And then there is all of the foreign car dealerships in the US that could see major decreases in customers and some could go out of business, and which could begin a domino affect into many other businesses in the US with major decreasing in sales.

Japan is not a country standing alone as its economy is highly connected to all other economies around the world including the US and what happens to the US economy could have significant affects on Japan too.

Yes, the Bank of Japan might have thought if the Japanese economy and prices move in line with expectations they might have thought of increasing borrowing costs, but as the situation has changed dramatically the BOJ might be re-thinking increasing borrowing costs.

The whole world is looking and watching what will happen on April 2, and the US stock market on April 2 could be a be for a very long day of losing shares prices.

The traditional or normal way of most central banks to rein in soaring inflation is to increase the key rate, which is suppose to dampen demand for loans and use of credit cards but the increase of the key rate is not a sure thing and it might take some time before prices decrease, if at all.

Japanese households have been suffering greatly due to constant inflation since the pandemic and there is no end in sight at this time. 

And yes, the weak Japanese yen is a major reason for the increase in prices as Japan is a resource-poor country which means they have to import much of what they need.

Japan's core consumer prices increasing 3.2 percent doesn't sound like much but it should be remembered it is probably just an average as maybe some prices might have risen more and of course a little less.

Most central banks would prefer to see an inflation rate or around 2 percent as they feel its a manageable number and if the inflation rate is above 2 percent, like 4 percent for example most central banks will think the economy is overheating.

The same can be said for an inflation rate of 1 percent only might be considered too low and an economy is not moving very fast. 

Companies increasing wages is a very good idea as it will significantly help Japanese wage earners, but it must be remembered that 70 percent of the Japanese workforce don't work for the large name-brand companies but small and midsize companies and usually small and midsize companies don't pay the same wage increase that large Japanese companies do.

And yes, if wage increases to reach the 5.46 level for large companies that would be good, but again the what is going to happen with the small and midsize companies and wage increases, as some don't have the needed resources for wage increases. 

And then there is the idea of Japan is in a labor shortage at this time, so many companies are looking at increasing wages to attract new workers and or keep their existing workers.

A labor shortage in Japan means Japanese workers can easily move to another job so companies are aware of this and a reason for the possible wage increases. 

Have a nice day!