Asian Trends in Human Resources: After the Crisis

Asian Trends in Human Resources: After the Crisis
By Ames Gross and Divya Thadani
Fall 1999
Published in SHRM International Focus, a publication of the Society for Human Resources Management

Contrary to the belief that the Asian economic crisis was a single, homogenous phenomenon: 1) there were several distinct factors that led to the crisis; and 2) the crisis affected different countries in different ways. For example, while the Thai economy was devastated, the Taiwan economy continued to flourish, with only slight crisis ramifications. The economic situation affected both domestic and foreign businesses in these countries, which in turn affected the region’s human resource and recruiting practices. This report looks at key Asian human resources and recruiting issues as the Asian economies recover.

I. Economic Situation

Background Information

While the crisis still persists in a number of Asian countries, especially Indonesia, most Asian nations are beginning to recover – albeit at a slow pace. In the next few years, many Asian and foreign companies will become stronger. Going forward, it is believed that new foreign investment will be the stable, long-term investment that the region needs, in contrast to the “hot money” invested in stocks and short-term dollars loans that prevailed in the pre-crisis period. Asian stock markets are rising and the currencies are finally starting to regain some strength and stability. Thus, with over 60% of the world’s population, there is little doubt that Asia will soon regain its position as the growth region of the world and the future “hot-spot” of the next century.

The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 when the Thai currency, the baht, initially plunged more than 20% and continued to slide. The country was finally forced to ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for aid. Korea announced emergency IMF measures in the Fall of 1997, by which time the Hong Kong stock market had already fallen by 40%. Hong Kong’s monetary authority was able, however, to counter heavy selling of the Hong Kong dollar and thus managed to maintain its exchange rate with the U.S. dollar over the next year or so. Malaysia and the Philippines were also affected by the crisis, although not as adversely as Korea and Thailand. Hong Kong and Singapore were the last to be hit by the crisis and while Singapore has bounced back, Hong Kong is still facing related problems. Taiwan, unlike the other Asian countries, felt minimal effects of the downslide, but managed to maintain a fairly steady GDP growth of approximately 5% even through the crisis period. 1

The story for Japan and China, however, is quite different. Japan’s current economic status is not primarily the result of the Asian crisis. Although the crisis did have some effect on the Japanese economy, Japan’s economic downturn began in the early to mid 1990s after the 1980s “bubble” economy burst. Between 1996 and 1998, Japan’s recession deepened, the yen lost about 16% of its value; and unemployment rose. However, 1999’s first and second quarter growth rate figures are positive for Japan largely due to the government’s huge stimulus investments. Despite early signs of recovery, it will be some time before the unemployment rate – which hit a record high of 4.9% in June – begins to decline. Currently, the government has vowed to fight unemployment and is undertaking a variety of job-creation measures. Unfortunately, however, Japan is still staggering under a mountain of bad loans.

China, on the other hand, was almost entirely shielded from the crisis. During the crisis period in 1997 and 1998, China had a healthy growth rate of about 7%. Recently China has been affected by the crisis. This nation, however, has its own set of problems due to its transition from a communist to a capitalist system. A large number of its state-owned companies are currently facing bankruptcy and are not profitable without large government subsidies. Unemployment in China has exploded, and is now about 11% in urban areas. China also has lots of bad bank loans. Nevertheless, even though China is now feeling some of the crisis effects that the region has faced over the last two years as well as its own interval problems, its economy is “reportedly” still growing at close to 6% per year.

As noted above, most of Asia has rebounded significantly from the region’s sudden and sizable collapse and the transition toward economic recovery is occurring. 2 To illustrate this, 1998 growth rates and estimated 1999 and 2000 growth rates for the region are displayed in Table 1 below: 3

Table 1: Recovering GDP growth in Asia

Source: Asian Development Bank Statistics, 1999

II. Major HR Trends in the Region 4

a. Background: Cultural Differences between Asia and the West

It is important to remember that there are a number of differences between the Asian and the West’s workforces. While workers in the West prefer to work independently, Asian workers, in general, seek a sense of belonging and take more pride in their organization than in their individual jobs. In order to get the most out of Asian employees, remembering an employee’s name or birthday may mean almost as much as money. But of course, there are also a variety of differences among the different countries in Asia. For example, Indonesian and Thai managers have very different styles than those in Hong Kong, Japan or Singapore.

b. Wages

Currently, wages in Asia are rising, albeit not at pre-crisis levels. With the weakening of the economies over the past two years, employers have had to cut costs and many froze pay levels or even cut wages. Now, not only are economic indicators turning upward, but also some companies are stepping up recruiting efforts. Thus, there is heightened pressure on firms to raise wages slowly and keep up with employee expectations. Such pressures are unavoidable in a recovery. For example, it is estimated that salaries in Singapore will increase by 4% in 2000, up from an estimated 3.3% in 1999. In Singapore, employers in the telecommunications industry expect to offer their employees approximately a 7% wage increase in the year 2000. In Hong Kong the information technology sector expects salaries to rise by 7% in 2000. In general, to try to achieve stability, smaller businesses will be more likely to give their employees bigger wage increases than medium-sized and large-sized firms. Although pressure is beginning to mount and accelerate salary increases, most analysts do not believe that wages or wage rate increases will reach pre-crisis levels for quite some time. Estimated and forecasted inflation and annual salary increases for 1999 and 2000 are displayed in Table 5 and Table 6 in Appendix 1.

c. Performance Based Pay

Before the Asian economic crisis many companies in Asia rewarded their fixed pay employees with increases of approximately 10-15% annually. Pre-crisis salaries and bonuses were generally based on an employee’s seniority, rather than performance. Now, however, in order to keep talented employees, especially senior executives, some Asian based companies feel forced to reward employees with variable pay plans such as performance-based salaries and bonuses.

d. Job-Hopping

In the pre-crisis period, job-hopping was common given the incredible growth of the region’s economies, booming businesses and tight labor market. During the crisis, with unemployment rates rising, this practice died down. Currently, many employers in the region are beginning to be concerned about potential labor shortages. Now, in late 1999, there is already some indication of the return of job-hopping, especially for such positions as bank clerical staff and certain jobs in the electronics and petrochemical industries. This is an indication that the labor shortages that characterized the pre-crisis era are starting to return.

e. Expatriates

In general, the number of openings for expatriates and the attractiveness of expatriate packages are on the decline. In the pre-crisis period, expats fared extremely well, receiving high salaries with rich benefit packages. Now, however, many employers are either refraining from giving expatriates any special treatment at all or converting expat packages to local remuneration, and paying expats the same as they would pay local professionals. Several companies in the region are getting rid of the hardship premiums that were used to persuade executives to relocate to “undesirable” posts. In the past, some firms rated places like Vietnam, India and some parts of Thailand as “hardship” posts. Many firms today argue, however, that with decreasing political violence and crime, improvements in infrastructure, sanitation and communications, these places are better to live in than they used to be. Thus, many companies are gradually doing away with (or reducing) hardship premiums that have traditionally accounted for as much as 30% of the gross base salary.

Also, companies that paid schooling expenses for the children of managers are reevaluating this expense. Many foreign firms are no longer paying for the children of their expat employees to go to the most expensive local schools and increasingly companies are picking younger or older candidates, that is, employees either without children, or those with few other expenses.

Table 2: Where Executives are in Demand (by industry sector)

 Share of total hiring in Asia in the second quarter of 1999

Source: Korn/Ferry International

f. Rising Demand for Executives

In Asia, the demand for executives in the second quarter of 1999 was up 40% from the second quarter of 1998, when many companies were still trying to come to grips with the Asian economic downturn. Hiring by IT companies in the second quarter of 1999 was strong, accounting for a 21% share of the total, compared with just 8% in the second quarter of 1998. Demand for executives at fashion and retail companies climbed in the second quarter of 1999 – their share of total demand accounted for 5% of all hiring in Asia, up from 1% in the second quarter of 1998. Executive position hiring in marketing, sales, advertising and public relations also increased in the second quarter of 1999 as a share of total hiring in Asia. On the other hand, the demand for executives at consumer products and industrial companies in Asia dropped substantially in the second quarter of 1999, as did the demand from financial-services companies. 5 Table 2 and 3 depict where executives are in demand in Asia.

Table 3: Where Executives are in Demand in Asia (by job function)

% of total hiring in the second quarter of 1999

Source: Korn/Ferry International

III. China

 a. Chinese Economy Slowing Down

The Chinese economy grew at a steady rate of about 10% for 15 years prior to the Asian crisis. As mentioned earlier, even during the Asian crisis, the Chinese economy maintained a steady growth rate of about 7-8%. Following the worst of the crisis (late 1999), however, the Chinese economy has begun to slump. Growth rates today are still respectable (approximately 5%) but less than in the past. Foreign investment in the region is not taking place at the same levels it did before the crisis, and unemployment has soared.

In the spring of 1999, urban unemployment was estimated at 16 million, or 11% of the urban workforce, the highest officially acknowledged unemployment in the history of the PRC. China’s workforce expands by roughly 9 million people each year and government authorities believe that the country must rack up high rates of growth – at least 8% a year – to create jobs for these new job seekers. Beginning in 1998, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security began to direct its energy towards a major re-employment project, which is designed to retrain and find jobs for those State enterprise employees who are being laid off as more and more failing state enterprises collapse. Foreign companies employing workers with low skill levels should consider seeking candidates through the re-employment centers. Recently, many Chinese companies have garnered tax benefits, loan preferences, and good relationships with the local government by assisting with the bureaucratic mission of re-employing those laid off from State firms.

b. China’s Maturing Labor Market

China is no longer a new frontier for international corporations. This nation has been open to the West for 20 years, and its business climate continues to mature. Global business organizations in China are now settling in for the long term, and they are making strategic decisions that will position them in the Chinese market for decades to come.

This maturation process has been particularly important in China’s labor sector. Even ten years ago, labor mobility in China was quite rigid, with only 850,000 workers out of over 99 million leaving their state sector jobs each year for reasons other than death or retirement. Every year for the next several years, the Chinese government foresees three million jobs switching out of the State owned sector to private and foreign-invested companies.

Among this vast army of workers is emerging a new managerial middle-class – educated, motivated and increasingly savvy. As the labor sector ripens, China’s young, educated elites have become more open and aware of what makes a business successful and profitable. They read journals such as International Trade News and Economic Daily and know full well the labor environment of the foreign invested enterprises (FIE) sector. The Chinese government is also paying increasing attention to labor reform issues – with the consolidation of State owned enterprises (SOEs), the government has trumpeted its statutory protections for workers, enforcement of employment contracts, wage levels, pension and insurance protections, and housing and educational benefits. Local Chinese workers are certainly aware of their legal rights, and expect them, at an absolute minimum. Such workers also talk with their counterparts in competitor organizations and with government bureaucrats looking for private sector employment when they retire (at age 55 for women and 60 for men).

In short, foreign companies must either provide attractive, generous, market-oriented employment packages, or Chinese employees will exert pressure for them. If foreign companies want to retain top employees and desire a committed local work force and senior staff, then the organization must, at the very least, offer average wages and benefits. A below average foreign enterprise suffers from poor management, lagging pay levels, little training and enrichment opportunities, and sub-par benefits. Such an operation is usually unsuccessful in China.

c. Compensation Packages

Foreign firms in China must now show that they pay competitive salaries. General salary surveys already exist in the major cities, and informal wage-benefit surveys conducted by the American Embassy and available through the US Foreign Commercial Service show some important executive compensation trends. For example, they peg variable pay at about 13% of total compensation costs; and show that key management salaries in China are catching up with levels in Taiwan and even Hong Kong. While salary growth across the board in China is slowing down, key Chinese managers are still getting large annual salary increases.

Wage growth in China slowed to about 6-8% in 1999, with 1999 management and professional salary growth in the high-tech sector at about 15%. But these figures are time sensitive and location specific. It is better for foreign companies to commission a study for themselves and compile their own data, based on where they want to locate and when. Interviewing human resource directors at non-competitor foreign firms or commercial representatives at the US embassy/consulates will give some basic information sufficient for immediate needs. The bottom line is that, with one exception, compensation structures of foreign companies will be better if tied to specific location rather than as a reflection of national figures.

The exception is for top Chinese managers. It is recommended that staffs in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai be paid the same salaries. But no matter where firms are located in China, retention implies that support staff salaries be pegged at 3-5% above market. Managerial staff, however, should be kept at 8%-10% above market. Even if the China head office is in Xiamen, Suzhou or Tianjin, talented candidates from major cities will be hard to attract unless they are compensated on a par with the Beijing or Shanghai markets.

d. Benefits Packages

Foreign companies in China must offer their employees a competitive compensation package in addition to basic salary and cash allowances. These compensation packages now include group life and medical insurance usually through Hong Kong companies. Other benefits packages also offer an array of housing options, pension, and tuition assistance for local professional training (an MBA or a CPCU, for example).

e. Housing and Stock Options

Chinese income tax laws often make it desirable to provide greater subsidies and services rather than higher wages. Chinese income tax laws often make it desirable to provide greater subsidies and additional factors in compensation packages include housing and other benefits, both of which can be effective retention tools. For top management, housing can be either a prestige perquisite or a source of extra cash. In the first case, top Chinese managers can rent company owned, high-end housing, and as they settle in, they become less inclined to uproot their family for another job elsewhere. However, this kind of housing compensation can be very costly unless the housing is actually built on company premises by the employer. In the latter case, it is easier for foreign companies to build outside the larger cities. The advantage for top managers is prestigious housing at no cost. Chinese managers, however, can be taxed on “rental allowances,” making it less attractive to both foreign companies and their managers.

Housing loans can also obligate a top manager to the company. One American firm in China offers two types of housing loans – loans through the Construction Bank of China that are guaranteed by the firm, and interest free loans to supervisors and top managers to cover a portion of the purchase price for a residence. The advantage of the loan is that it is not taxable, and some top Chinese staff may prefer larger housing loans that can be readjusted in the future.

Tax considerations are key to determining how best and whether to grant stock options. Top managers understand the advantages of a “stock option” as opposed to outright stock compensation or cash bonuses. Foreign firms should pay close attention to local tax regulations as they decide which compensation strategy to adopt.

f. Health Insurance

Following the November 1998 national work conference on health insurance in China, the Chinese State Council in December 1998 issued its “Decision on Basic Health Insurance for City and Town Workers,” which describes the basic health insurance system developing in China. The Decision covers all types of ownership, including private enterprises and government organizations, except for individually owned businesses and township and village enterprises.

The regulations appear to make an exception for employees of railroads, power companies, ocean shipping, and other large companies with offices nationwide. The state policy allows these companies to pool their own medical funds. This would seem to create an opening for large foreign companies that operate nationally to apply to pool their funds nationally rather than turn them over to the various local governments. But this analysis has not, to date, been supported by government officials.

The Decision sets upper limits for the basic health fund at 6% of salary for the company contribution and 2% of salary for the individual’s contribution, but the percentages can be raised “along with economic development.” The Decision also sets limits on payouts from the public pool, limiting them “in principle” to four times the average yearly wage in the area concerned.

One portion of the Decision concerns how to limit spending on medical expenses. It calls for the ministries of Labor and Social Security, Finance, and Health to set reimbursement limits for medicines and services, determine which diagnostic tests and which services will be covered, and select hospitals in each area, the services of which will be eligible for reimbursement.

g. Training Development

Senior Chinese staff are likely to remain with a company if they see opportunities to gain new skills and improve themselves. A company’s commitment to its senior managers’ professional development will result in their commitment to the company. Training also has an important legal advantage. Training costs can be used to deter staff from leaving companies because, under Chinese laws, employees are liable for training costs if they leave the employer within a certain time period. While this is primarily targeted to Chinese students who get college training abroad and fail to return to China, it is also legally enforceable against persons who have received overseas training, or even in-country training for which the company pays tuition. This is a widely accepted way of retaining staff, and is effective. If a top manager is hired who has a training liability with his previous employer, the new company may end up paying this liability and possibly a penalty as well.

IV. Japan

a. Japanese Economy on the Road to Recovery

During the 1980s, Japan was perceived as one of the miracles of the modern world with its tremendous success and sustained growth in the automobile and consumer electronics industries as well as other major sectors. Its expanding exports and major investments all over the world combined with its successful government and industry partnership placed Japan in an enviable position. That “bubble” burst in 1991 when the Japanese stock market lost nearly 60% of its value and property values dropped by as much as 80%. In mid-1997 when the other Asian economies went into a recession and crisis, the situation in Japan worsened. Approximately 45% of Japan’s overall sales were made to other Asian nations and thus the crisis further crippled Japan’s economy.

In an effort to jump-start Japan’s economy, it has been estimated that to date the government has pumped $600 billion into the economy in stimulus programs. Partially as a result, Japan’s economy has grown in the first two quarters of this year – its GDP climbed 2% in the second quarter (an annualized growth rate of 8%). The second quarter increase of 0.2% is less than the impressive first quarter increase, but with two positive quarters of growth the Japanese economy looks like it is beginning to recover. The new figures, however, do not necessarily mean that the Japanese economy is strong. Moreover, the recovery cycle is slow and the private sector is still in the early stages of restructuring. A graph displaying Japan’s GDP growth for the first two quarters of 1999 and the four quarters of 1998 is displayed below.

Table 4: Japan’s 1999 GDP growth compared with previous quarter

Source: Economic Planning Agency

b. Traditional Human Resource Structure

In the past, large, established Japanese companies recruited graduates directly from their colleges and universities. These companies would then offer these graduates lifetime employment within a rigid seniority system and chain of command. Salaries and benefits, such as retirement and health, were pre-determined and paid regularly regardless of performance. For a long time, this system seemed to work well. In light of Japan’s economic situation, beginning in the early 1990s, such human resource practices became a burden rather than a benefit.

Change in Japan is not easily or quickly achieved. Some Japanese companies are now being forced to rethink their insular human resource practices. While the conventions of life employment and seniority, and other similar employment traditions, have hardly disappeared in Japan, the number of mid-career shifts and companies switching to performance based pay is growing. It is thus important for foreign companies that want to build a stable employee base in Japan to pay close attention to these newer trends.

c. Lifetime Employment

Until recently, larger, well-established Japanese companies have followed a system of lifetime employment whereby the employee and employer understand that employment is for life. The obvious advantages of this system for both employee and employer have been a boon to Japanese businesses since 1945 until the late 1980s. The system even accommodated employees who performed poorly by shifting them to “easier” job with lower salaries but enhanced titles, either in the same company or in a subsidiary. Each employee was viewed as a family member. Thus, getting rid of anyone was next to impossible.

With today’s sluggish economic situation, these same Japanese companies are beginning to examine techniques used in the West by U.S. and European companies. Some Japanese companies have begun to replace employees in their 40s and 50s with younger, less expensive (and less experienced) employees or with independent contractors. It is now not unusual for some of the largest companies to lay off employees when profits plunge. Benefits packages are increasingly being revised in order to reduce costs and change practices. Many large Japanese companies (for example Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co.) that in the past have provided dormitories for employees, are now cutting back and changing or eliminating such practices in favor of more traditional, free market housing options.

Technical courses and technical schools are aiming to attract existing employees, rather than just those who will become new employees for the first time. For example, Kameido Technical College, a vocational school in Eastern Tokyo, one of 18 such technical schools in the city, provides training to help employees at Japanese companies learn new skills in order to get new jobs and make their transition into these new jobs easier. NEC Corp., the giant global electronics company, plans to eliminate 15,000 jobs over the next three years, as does Sony Corp. There have been and will be some adverse consequences of such actions. Some older employees have been driven to suicide and other tragedies. For the most part, however, Japanese companies still provide lifetime employment and continue other traditional employment practices.

d. Pay for Performance

Salaries in the past have been based on age and seniority. Older employees received greater pay and, usually, had more responsibility. Bonuses fluctuated with company profits, but generally could be counted on. With greater seniority went larger bonuses. For the most part, Japanese companies still adhere to these practices. Changes are slowly starting to occur, the tough economic realities in Japan today are forcing companies to adapt and alter their traditional practices.

As a result of the changes starting to take place, some Japanese companies are resorting to lateral hires, hitherto unheard of, for special tasks. Some companies are paying their new employees on the basis of their performance and experience. Itochu Corp., the huge Japanese trading company, for example, is revamping its salary structure to make it possible for younger employees to earn higher salaries sooner. Last Spring, Daiwa Securities, Co., one of Japan’s three largest brokerage houses, began changing the way it pays its employees. It is starting to get rid of the seniority system and replace it with a merit system through corporate restructuring. The company’s retirement system is also being changed from a seniority system to a merit-based system. The pace of change is certainly very slow, but pay for performance is on the move in Japan.

e. Women in the Workplace

Traditionally in Japan, women did not receive much opportunity, economic or otherwise. While they did hold a special place within the family at home, this did not extend to the outside world. Today women in Japan account for only 8.2% of corporate managers, while in the U.S. that figure is almost 43%, in the UK, more than 33% and in Germany, more than 26%. Japan is far behind the rest of the industrialized world with respect to the role of its women in government, business, and management. Despite the many legal (though, most often not enforced) rights – including educational opportunities – accorded women in Japan after 1945, Japan remains a very traditional, closed and paternalistic society.

Thirteen years ago, Japan passed a voluntary equal opportunity law applicable to women. More recently, Japan revised its Labor Standard Law for equal treatment of women in the work place. This is a fairly short period of time within which to try and change centuries of practice. Even though there are now many more women in the workforce and some progress is being made, Japan has a long way to go. The government has defined sexual harassment and has outlawed workplace discrimination against women. It has warned companies that their behavior will be monitored and that they will be held accountable for employee behavior. Critics argue that the current efforts are not being taken seriously enough as there is no real punishment outlined for violations. Thus, in spite of these efforts, discrimination remains the rule rather than the exception. It is not uncommon, for example, for young Japanese women to go abroad, often to the U.S., for university training and then decide either to stay or return to Japan and work for a foreign company because of better treatment and better economic opportunities.

The current recession in Japan is forcing change more quickly than would otherwise be the case. A recent study carried out by the Japanese Research Institute on the National Economy showed that the Japanese economy would greatly benefit from providing Japanese women with more economic opportunity. It estimated that the rate of Japan’s GDP would grow by up to four-tenths of one percent, a significant figure in such macroeconomic calculations, in the next ten years if more women and seniors were to be employed. The government is attempting to encourage opportunities for women in business. It is planning training and sensitivity sessions nationwide to ensure that businesses are aware of the equal opportunity law and the benefits that women can bring to the workforce, including at management levels.

There are some visible signs of change – both structural and symbolic. For example, Nippon Life Insurance, Co. (popularly known as Nissei) now calls female salespersons “partners” rather than “Nissei Ladies,” which is how they were referred to in the past. The Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry dropped the label “women” from the title of a seminar on new recruits that the company held in April this year. The law also recognizes the work needs of women (for example, mothers avoiding night work and other conditions that are particularly detrimental to childcare). Women too are beginning to acknowledge the changes and are now more likely to demand their rights. It is apparent, however, that the rate of change is slow and it will be some time before Japanese women have the opportunities of their counterparts in the West.

f. Recruiting in Japan

Traditionally, Japanese companies recruited from colleges and universities each year, then provided in-house, on-the-job training throughout an employee’s career. Most big companies, (i.e. those with over 250 employees), built up their relationships with colleges and universities over the years. Company employees maintained close ties with their alma maters and pushed hard to recruit its students each year. Smaller companies used the same techniques, however, most often with less success, mainly because they had fewer employees and less “power” in their sectors.

Now, several smaller companies, and some large ones, are looking to additional means of recruiting, such as using recruiting agencies, mid-career hires, and temporary employees. Not surprisingly, foreign companies have had the most difficult time and, on the whole, colleges and university recruiting was not very useful for them. Foreign companies have had to rely heavily on other recruiting and hiring methods, using temporary employees, poaching employees from other companies – frowned upon by Japan’s main companies – and Japanese returnees and others from abroad, and, where justified, expatriates. This was, and still is, accomplished outside normal and traditional Japanese recruiting channels via word of mouth, recruiting agencies, and advertisements.

These alternative efforts have not been made easier by traditional Japanese custom and laws. For example, Japan limits the time that temporary employees can be employed by any one employer, usually to one year. Moreover, lateral recruiting and hiring is not popular in Japan and usually carries a stigma. Thus, recruiting has been a struggle for both small and large Japanese companies as well as for foreign companies.

Although most Japanese companies still do not use recruiters, more and more companies are beginning to experiment with these and other unconventional employment methods. Traditional practices continue to dominate, but there is increased mid-career hiring, lateral hiring from other Japanese companies, out-sourcing for special skills, as well as increased use of temporary employees and “freeters,” (employees who juggle outside assignments). Japanese companies seldom use recruiting firms but almost all foreign companies do. To keep up with the changes that have taken place as a result of the economic situation, Japanese people, in general, are beginning to develop more flexible attitudes about obtaining employment. Some, not atypical recent graduates have given up their dream of becoming “salarymen” and have taken temporary jobs, including assignments that are limited in length but could develop into something more permanent if they perform well and show initiative.

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