Labor Turnover Behavior: Japan Versus the West

Compared to other countries, Japan's labor turnover rate is generally said to be extremely low. It is believed that after taking a job upon graduation, most individuals work in the same firm until retirement without ever changing jobs. People take this as a sign of Japan's established lifetime employment system, but to how many individuals does this actually apply? Only recently, statistical data regarding employment history have been compiled in Japan. According to one such survey, the "Basic Survey of Employment Structure," for the year 1987, the male population, aged fifty to fifty-four, that had been employed at or before the age of thirty and had never changed jobs, comprised 31 percent of those employed, whereas those in the age group of fifty-five to fifty-nine only comprised 21 percent. Even when we only considered the currently employed members of those groups, the proportions rise to just 43 percent and 33 percent, respectively. It is a matter of opinion whether these figures are high or low, but what happens when we compare them to statistics in other countries?