Blogs and Articles from Third Way Forum Membrs
Jan 26, 2023
Discussion#2 How can we make foreigners want to stay and work in Japan long-term, and how can we make the Japanese want to go more global?
Blogs from The Third Way Working Group
- There have been some sentimental worries about Japan losing its attractive uniqueness by absorbing more globalization trends. However, we are not talking about Japan’s culture and tradition in the realm of people’s lifestyle. Those things can remain as much Japanese as people want it to be. What we are talking about is the business and management practices of Japanese companies which are now trying to expand their business overseas for their survival. So we should not confuse ourselves. We are trying to address the business practice issues of Japan and not the culture and tradition of Japan.
- Having said that, however, business practices are heavily influenced by the cultural and traditional aspects of the Japanese people. Hence it’s not so easy just try to tackle the business aspect.
- Some obvious obstacles that make it difficult to attract foreigners to work long-term in Japan are the language barrier, long hours of working with low productivity, low compensation level and stubborn inertia to be stuck in the old days.
- Some young international people are trying to find an overseas job which they can do online or take an overseas college program which they can attend online while staying in Japan. In this way, they don’t have to be in the Japanese system while still taking advantage of the convenience, safety and comfort of the Japanese society. This could be potentially a good hybrid way of working/studying provided that they have a good English communication skills.
- However, there is a time zone challenge. If you are working for a company in the US or Europe online, you will be working at odd hours in Japan time. But it would be totally doable if your job interactions are limited within the Asia Pacific region. Then there is no big time difference.
- Even though Japanese companies are hiring the increasing number of internationally experienced young people, they still assign them to some domestic jobs in the field for the first several years. Their game plan is to first train them and educate them about the company and help them build internal network before assigning them for international business units. However, it is questionable if today’s young people are willing to wait for 3 years by doing some domestic jobs without utilizing their international communication skills. They will most likely quit. Even if they stayed for the first 3 years in the domestic field job, by the time they finish their first assignment, they would be totally indoctrinated or even brainwashed and behave totally like a traditional Japanese salaryman/woman without any international touch by then. If Japanese companies are serious about expanding international business and need international talent, they should assign those internationally hired people for international jobs quickly.
- There are some foreigners who want to be in Japan for some reason. Some people from other Asian countries may find living and working in Japan much more decent and comfortable than back in their own countries. Those people are willing to adapt the Japanese mindset. So their mindset is localized in Japan. If Japanese companies can find those foreigner with Japanized mindset, it would be easier for Japanese companies, but such people must be a very small minority in the world.
- One of the most attractive industries in Japan may be the animation Manga industry such as Ghibli studio etc. However, the wage level is so low that foreign animators are turned off to actually come and work in Japan despite their fascination about Manga.
- As long as Japanese companies are doing a lot of things only in the Japanese way, foreign talent can not come to Japan for work because whatever skills they acquire in Japan are not transferrable globally. Unless you are determined to stay in Japan for good, it’s not good for your skill development and professional career opportunities moving forward.
- So, how can Japan change? Historically speaking, whenever there was a big social change in Japan, there was always some burning platform. Meiji Restoration changed the entire Japan in less than 10 years. It was carried out by young countryside samurai leaders. Back then, somehow young people did not hesitate to step up and take over, and older people were willing to step down and trust the young leaders. After the second world war, it was also a very quick and a very big social change with a fundamental mindset change of the entire Japanese people. How did they manage it to happen?
- Well, maybe those big social changes in Japan did not happen so suddenly although they appear so. Perhaps, invisible changes were already happening in people’s hearts and minds for a long time like hot-boiling magma. A burning platform could have been just a switch to release the magma. If that’s the case, although it looks like Japan has done nothing and nothing has changed for many years, although it is still invisible, some big changes may be already happening in Japanese people’s hearts and minds. Just waiting for the time to reach the boiling point to explode.
- Having said that, however, business practices are heavily influenced by the cultural and traditional aspects of the Japanese people. Hence it’s not so easy just try to tackle the business aspect.
- Some obvious obstacles that make it difficult to attract foreigners to work long-term in Japan are the language barrier, long hours of working with low productivity, low compensation level and stubborn inertia to be stuck in the old days.
- Some young international people are trying to find an overseas job which they can do online or take an overseas college program which they can attend online while staying in Japan. In this way, they don’t have to be in the Japanese system while still taking advantage of the convenience, safety and comfort of the Japanese society. This could be potentially a good hybrid way of working/studying provided that they have a good English communication skills.
- However, there is a time zone challenge. If you are working for a company in the US or Europe online, you will be working at odd hours in Japan time. But it would be totally doable if your job interactions are limited within the Asia Pacific region. Then there is no big time difference.
- Even though Japanese companies are hiring the increasing number of internationally experienced young people, they still assign them to some domestic jobs in the field for the first several years. Their game plan is to first train them and educate them about the company and help them build internal network before assigning them for international business units. However, it is questionable if today’s young people are willing to wait for 3 years by doing some domestic jobs without utilizing their international communication skills. They will most likely quit. Even if they stayed for the first 3 years in the domestic field job, by the time they finish their first assignment, they would be totally indoctrinated or even brainwashed and behave totally like a traditional Japanese salaryman/woman without any international touch by then. If Japanese companies are serious about expanding international business and need international talent, they should assign those internationally hired people for international jobs quickly.
- There are some foreigners who want to be in Japan for some reason. Some people from other Asian countries may find living and working in Japan much more decent and comfortable than back in their own countries. Those people are willing to adapt the Japanese mindset. So their mindset is localized in Japan. If Japanese companies can find those foreigner with Japanized mindset, it would be easier for Japanese companies, but such people must be a very small minority in the world.
- One of the most attractive industries in Japan may be the animation Manga industry such as Ghibli studio etc. However, the wage level is so low that foreign animators are turned off to actually come and work in Japan despite their fascination about Manga.
- As long as Japanese companies are doing a lot of things only in the Japanese way, foreign talent can not come to Japan for work because whatever skills they acquire in Japan are not transferrable globally. Unless you are determined to stay in Japan for good, it’s not good for your skill development and professional career opportunities moving forward.
- So, how can Japan change? Historically speaking, whenever there was a big social change in Japan, there was always some burning platform. Meiji Restoration changed the entire Japan in less than 10 years. It was carried out by young countryside samurai leaders. Back then, somehow young people did not hesitate to step up and take over, and older people were willing to step down and trust the young leaders. After the second world war, it was also a very quick and a very big social change with a fundamental mindset change of the entire Japanese people. How did they manage it to happen?
- Well, maybe those big social changes in Japan did not happen so suddenly although they appear so. Perhaps, invisible changes were already happening in people’s hearts and minds for a long time like hot-boiling magma. A burning platform could have been just a switch to release the magma. If that’s the case, although it looks like Japan has done nothing and nothing has changed for many years, although it is still invisible, some big changes may be already happening in Japanese people’s hearts and minds. Just waiting for the time to reach the boiling point to explode.
Sponsor
