LABOUR-JAPAN: Permanent Work Elusive for Young Workers

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Oct 23 2001 (IPS) - Haru Kitano, 24, is a law graduate who has never applied for a permanent job — until now. He has managed on part- time salaries for years, but realises that the difficult job situation in Japan’s economic slowdown means the time has come to change his ways.

Kitano is called a ‘freeter’, a word that is a hybrid of the English word ‘free’ and the German word ‘arbeiter’ or worker, one of thousands of young men and women who prefer to have a succession of part-time jobs than work at a single company as is the job culture in this country.

The term ‘freeter’ became popular during the eighties when Japan’s economic growth was soaring and the nation faced a lack of people of taking on new jobs.

“I was quite happy to be a ‘freeter’ for the past two years because I did not want to be bothered to take major responsibilities,” says Kitano, who lives with his parents.

But Kitano acknowledges he cannot carry on this way any more. Last month, he enrolled at the Young Support Plaza in the southern city of Osaka, a centre established by the government in July to help people like him to find permanent employment.

Says Akira Shimoura, a counsellor at the Plaza: “There are 140 young men and women now seeking jobs through the Plaza. These people never held permanent posts but are now forced to change due to the changing labour environment in Japan.”

According to the Health, Welfare and Labour Ministry, there are 3.5 million ‘freeters’ in Japan. Almost all of them are university graduates.

Satoru Kameshima, an official at the ministry, explains that the Plaza was set up after a survey found that as many as 70 percent of ‘freeters’ wanted a way out the cycle of unstable part-time jobs.

Indeed, the ministry reports that unemployment among people between the ages of 15 to 24 years have increased to 9.8 percent – an increase that means they are taking on the brunt of joblessness from on middle- aged men, whose unemployment rate stands at 9 percent.

These young people shun the everyday drudgery of work to pursue careers in the arts, to have the space to take long vacations or simply to be able to meet with friends by clocking off the day early – unlike the normally long working hours in corporate Japan.

For employers, ‘freeters’ supply cheap labour, require minimal training and can often be hired easily.

But ‘freeters’ are finding that the way back into permanent work is not that easy these days. For instance, only 30 of the number enrolled at the Plaza have so far succeeded in finding employment.

Shimomura explains the young men are up against traditional corporate rules that frown on job seekers who have not held ‘responsible’ jobs in the past.

“It’s hard for these people to find jobs because companies are wary of them. They do not want to provide them with training because they think it is a waste of time,” he explains.

Learning the hard way, Kitano spends long hours at the Plaza learning to write a resume, to apply for jobs and even takes lessons in producing just the right smile for a job interview.

“My life is so different now,” he says. He explains that until recently, he was never burdened by problems from by his average monthly salary that hovered around 11,000 yen (980 U.S. dollars) – about half of what he would have earned as his start-out pay.

Kitano says he managed well because he lived with his family, who did not expect him to contribute for food or lodging.

But things have changed and he decided to take on a permanent job because of the early retirement of his father, which mean additional financial responsibilities for him at a time when Japan’s economy continues to struggle out of recession and an unemployment rate of around 5 percent or so.

“Suddenly, the bottom fell out of my life for I realised my parents are growing old and could not longer support me,” Kitano explains.

The growing squeeze in job openings, a consequence of Japan’s long economic recession, also worries him. “It was a shock to realise that Japan is not the same as it was and life is turning out to be quite difficult,” Kitano muses.

For now, he has been offered a job by a company selling ‘bento’ or lunch boxes to the public. If he takes the job, he will be working with part-time housewives. His position would be coordinator.

“There is not much out there,” grins Kitano, who is considering the job seriously because it is at the very least a start.

“The big issue is to show the corporate world I can stick it out. It all goes to show that despite the talk of a equal more free employment system, the rigidity still applies,” he explains.

Labour analysts contend the going will only get tougher for young people like Kitano. Corporate restructuring is encouraging more companies to seek cheap labour, which means less permanent jobs and more part-time ones.

“It’s a tough new world out there for the new generation,” says Shimomura.

The past two decades have seen Japan’s labour market change drastically. Kitano’s father followed the nation’s life-time employment system that guaranteed him a permanent job as soon as he finished university. That system, however, is fast breaking down as economic globalisation forces companies to cut personnel costs to stay competitive.

Says Shimomura: “The exotic term ‘freeter’ that beckoned Japan’s youth, fed up with the way their fathers were tied to their jobs, is fast losing their appeal as more people realise the seriousness of earning a livelihood.”