Rethinking the labor force

i know for the last year

it has been difficult to work study and

see your friends

i know simple things like going out for

a cup of coffee

are different than before

at the same time people are finding ways

to succeed in all regards

we’re discovering that part of us which

is an

entrepreneur and an innovator

maybe you’re experiencing your class

online

you’re still learning in the midst of a

health crisis

congratulations you’re finding a way

i know that doing business any business

has required both employees and

customers to

change how they do things they’re

finding a way

my goal now is to challenge you to keep

pushing forward

no matter how difficult these times are

whatever your goals are

find a way my professional career

my entire life has been about finding a

way

i grew up on kyushu it’s a southern

island

in japan my childhood dream was to

work in the creative world working on

movies i loved by my teenage years

though

i found myself in a serious prep school

for medical universities however

my dream was still with me

i found a way to california where movies

are made

i was excited and scared

i studied hard made friends

improved my english and learned about

american culture

as i entered my 20s my dream job

was tantalizingly closer

until my senior year that was 2001

that was when 9 11 happened

i had plans in the matter of hours

my plan were vanquished

job interviews canceled offer meetings

vanished my dreams my dreams

they were still with me but i had to

find a way

it wasn’t easy i felt the silence

intensely i felt the depth of darkness

the kind you feel when you can’t see

tomorrow

stuck in the lightless tunnel i looked

for

my next step and saw nothing

was my dream just that just a dream

months passed meanwhile i

waited tables at restaurants to pay my

bills

long hours i was tired i was discouraged

i volunteered to teaching japanese

i needed to feel like i mattered

i felt adrift eventually

after many depressing

job changes i’ve got back on

career track in the creative world

encouraged i pushed forward

until i teamed up with award-winning

talent

in hollywood and startups in silicon

valley

my dreams came true

i think you can guess that this isn’t

the end of the story

i moved back to japan

i went through a reverse culture shock

although i’m fluent in japanese many

things people do or say in meetings

puzzled me

you see there are under unspoken roles

based on underlying organizational

patterns

these aren’t apparent to outsiders

in this case included me

these patterns give us ideas about how

to rethink tomorrow one pattern i

noticed

is that in japan people don’t

leave their jobs they stay with the same

employer for years almost for life

nearly 60 percent of public companies

report their employees

average tenure is between 10

and 20 years and another 200 companies

report their average to manure is over

25 years a quarter

century that is a long time

compare that to the silicon valley

companies

their attenua averages less than two

years

in japan 20 25 years

can only be an average right

let’s look at this another way to

understand this a little better

this is national average tenure by age

group

notice these parallel lines almost same

years apart something really weird is

going on

just to show you this is the united

states

here’s what’s going on in japan

if you have worked for a company for 10

years

the people who started the same year

with you

are for the most part still there now

i was curious

i wondered what this cohort system could

mean

i learned one the origin

of the system dates back to the late

1800s

two cohort intakes take place

as early as sophomore year or senior

year

98 of graduates get employed

for high school graduates it’s as high

three as a member of cohort

you’ll be trained network

receive corporate culturalization and

probably

enjoy a steady career progression with

your peers

the impact of this system is amazing

according to oecd 2019 data

japan had the lowest unemployment

in the world for the people between

15 and 24 years old the green bar is the

united states

france is purple see

far on the left japan is at five percent

japanese companies aren’t being all

altruistic

they’ve done the math they know it is

to their advantage to acquire and look

after young labor forces japan knows

that with the right

training and hard work on youth part

every talent can succeed

students graduates in march and start

with companies

in april they spend a couple years

learning about corporate culture and

rules

business manners and the necessary basic

for their job as they build a strong

foundation

they’re ready for the next step

pay starts low but they it increases as

they gain

experience and they build they earn into

an annuity program

which helps their post-retirement living

this creates a knowledgeable

experienced and content

workforce which leads to an economic

stability

for the company and for the country

just to mention a few japan has been the

top

three gdp countries it has

the lowest rate of crime and its people

live

the longest in the world sustainability

they got it in japan

unskilled young labor forces have a

place in the community

and the basic income as they learn and

overcome all the challenges their

managers and peers will help them

they’ll be exposed to different roles

within the corporate environment

often without interruption of income or

benefits

until they realize their true specialty

this trial mode might last into their

30s if their employer

has a deep pocket to support these

underperformers and trainees

for five to ten years this traditional

japanese

style of organization is called a

membership based

organization you belong

to the society as a valued

long-term member rather than you’re

there temporarily

to do a job or do quick fixes

for a reward this was quite a big

culture shock to me it took me a while

to even understand it

as i came to realize that this discovery

was actually a pleasant surprise

as far as i can see no other country

does this

to this extent i would have certainly

appreciated this

in my 20s i wouldn’t have had to work in

restaurants

or felt so alone

now is japan’s method the best

much of the western world practices a

job-based

organization where a specialized talent

is engaged as long as a job lasts

in america using this method big names

such as amazon facebook and netflix

they all have succeeded hundreds other

examples can be named globally

there are advantages and disadvantages

to both systems we can learn

from each

under the increasingly competitive

pressure

in the business and technology landscape

there are limitations to japan’s system

one diversity is limited

when you train everyone the same

two membership model lacks

adaptability to quick changes three

it’s not one size fits all

specialized talents such as data

scientists or

mbas they don’t fit in the generalist

system but somehow the business leaders

need to find a way

that starts with asking a hard question

business leaders are being tested

between today’s competition

and future talent nurturing

there have been criticisms for older

japanese companies

for not modernizing or adjusting to

global standards a common argument

is how do we become an innovative

efficient job-based organization like

the western companies

i understand the temptation to explore

that idea but i feel it’s dangerous

i saw a reason why businesses cling to

a seemingly old way which has

a value worth preserving when building

future i say next

business leaders let’s ask each other

are we after more profit and growth

at the expense of the chances you could

otherwise give to the young people

i would like to extend this question to

all leaders

around the world are you your country

your organization doing what you can

to bring the next generation into

today’s conversations

or are you leaving them behind

let’s help the next generation into a

position

to succeed our future can thrive

here we are in 2021

we are forced to accelerate our review

of our systems let’s bring a dialogue

into our workplaces and into our

communities

about how we can develop youth labor

forces

yes the pandemic has changed roles

but one rule it has not changed is

our need to adapt to find a way

yes i said it again to find a way

japan doesn’t own this idea i believe

it’s worth spreading as it spreads

beyond japan it can inspire

leaders who are responsible for building

our future those leaders

that’s you the future is coming

it won’t stop coming

there will be challenges for you the

next leader

of this world but if you continue to

innovate if you continue to lead

and if you continue to work hard

you will find a way thank you