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