Historical Survey Of The Japanese Employment System

Enterprise employment system is a comprehensive framework which consists of employment concept, management mode and labor relation, etc. It is the pivot of both enterprise operation and state development strategy. Through the research on Japanese enterprise employment system, we could better understand the history of Japanese capitalist economy and the changes in Japanese society and enterprise employment system.This study started from the perspective of social history, guided by Marxist dialectical materialism and historical materialism, and learned heavily from the research methods of history, sociology and management. The research temporally reviewed the development of enterprise employment system from Meiji Restoration to the end of World War II. Meanwhile, it analyzed the characteristic employment systems in artisan community, during Edo Period and postwar period as well. The main outcome of this study was as follows.The emergence of Japanese enterprise employment system is preconditioned by the coexistence of modern industry and traditional workshop, as well as the symbiotic relationship between modern and traditional concepts. Its changes are under the influence of many factors which can be categorized into six aspects: the need for lowering cost and improving working efficiency; the need of workers for maintaining basic livelihood and seeking basic rights; the need for state development strategy; the development of science, technology and management; the changes of economic environment and labor market; and the traditional cultural factors. Among these factors, the first three are subjective with the capital and state power as dominant, whereas the trade union which represents workers' interest manifests some degree of absence.More specifically, Japanese enterprise employment system went through three phases of development: the initial capitalization period from 1868 Meiji Restoration to 1905 when Russo-Japanese War broke out; the patriarchal management period from 1905 to 1937 when the wartime system started to take shape; the state power dominance period from 1937 to the time when Japan was defeated. Edo Period was the period when the employment system was budding while postwar period was when the system was renovated.At those phases, the capital and state power constantly proposed new employment management concepts, adjusting the relationship between long-term and short-term employment principles, as well as seniority and competence principles, which further influenced the labor relationship, therefore featuring distinct employment system at different phases. In the initial capitalization period, enterprise operators took pursuing economic benefits as their core concept, so they applied long-term employment principle and seniority wage system to white collar class. In contrast, they established primitive labor relation, featuring low salary and high-intensity work with blue collar class, or indirectly through contractors. In the patriarchal management period, some big enterprise operators proposed patriarchal management concept by applying long-term employment and seniority wage system to skilled workers. They also built up internal training, welfare and worker council systems, trying to mitigate industrial disputes and antagonize the trade union. In the period of state power dominance, the state power, based on the ruling concept, began to restrict the migration of workers. It practiced living wage system, taking age and the number of family members as a standard. It established the industry dedication association, carrying out industry movements which aimed at stabilizing the industrial relationship and strengthening the dominance. So after these three phases, long term employment and seniority principle were much more valued. Also, a prototype of trade union within enterprises emerged in a certain range. In the postwar period, with the democratic reform and ever-changing economic environment, the long-term and timely employment principles, seniority and competence principles, and the trade union within enterprises were all given new contents. Their influences became wider and the enterprise employment system has exhibited a trend of complexity and diversity.It can be concluded that the employment system of Japanese enterprises has evolved in a dynamic manner, with the changes in socio-economic environment. Also, it is the relationship between long-term and timely employment principles, as well as the relationship between seniority and competence principles that run through the whole process.