Management Systems

Lifetime Employment (Shushinkoyo)

The main objective of offering lifetime employment or a job for life is to provide workers with a sense of security and identity. Once recruited, lifetime employees become mem bers of the corporate family, which will have to take care of them for their entire career. The corporation promises to provide them with employment for life along with cheap housing, health plans, pensions, education, and recreation facilities for their families in return for loyalty and commitment. Such a system, it was strongly believed, would assist the corporation in building and maintaining a strong sense of belonging among the workforce, increase harmonious relationships, and reduce staff turnover. In Japan, groupism or the total commitment and identification to the group is a treasured cultural value. It starts at an early age and is known as kazokushugi or very close family. Japanese familalism is a basic value underlying many aspects of lifetime employment (Whitehill, 1992: 53–4).

Lifetime employment is usually offered to full-time male employees. These are hired directly from high schools or universities and are expected to stay with the company for a lifelong period. The recruitment and selection procedures for candidates who are being considered for lifetime employment are more complex that those used in recruitment forstandard employment. In addition to the standard collection of documentation from each applicant, such as personal curriculum vitae, technical skills, official family registry record, physical examination report, and letters of recommendation, the Japanese firm assembles information related to political orientation, family background, finances, home ownership, and general characteristics and abilities of potential candidates (Chen, 1995:18 . In some cases, private investigators are sent to the applicant's neighbourhood to check on the truthfulness of the applicant's claims, on his general lifestyle, and to talk with friends...