Long-Term Trends in Long-Term Employment in Japan

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the changes in the characteristics of the occupational history in Japan and the changes in the Japanese labor market from the 1920s to the 2010s. In this chapter, we take advantage of the uniqueness of the SSM survey and use long-term occupational history data to clarify the characteristics of the occupational history of men who entered the workforce from the 1920s to the 1990s. Those who entered employment from the 1920s to the 1940s were more likely to have long-term employment at large companies than at small companies, despite being affected by war and given that long-term employment was not necessarily common (approximately 20%) (support for 1920s theory). In contrast, from the promotion perspective, the superiority of long-term employment was not particularly high, and it could not be confirmed whether Japanese-style employment practices were actually in place. Due to the impact of the Asia–Pacific war, the work history of workers who entered employment around this period became unstable, and there was no superiority attached to long-term employment. Following this, job turnover declined, and employment became stable after the 1950s. During such times, there has been an increase in the number of long-term employees along with a reduction in the differences in the stability of work history among employees, leading to leveling. At the same time, the establishment of Japanese-style employment practices would clarify the superiority of long-term employees. The job turnover rate remained low even after the end of the period of high economic growth, although the rate has been gradually increasing since the 1980s. Therefore, the number of long-term employees who entered employment since the latter half of the 1970s is also decreasing. Superiority in terms of promotion in the case of long-term employment was also lost. While it is argued that long-term employment has been declining since the 2000s, the conclusion of this chapter is that its germination began with employees who entered employment around 1980.