Taking Up Non-Regular Employment

Abstract

Looking at restructuring and changing employment principles, the previous chapters focused mostly on the situation of male employees who were regularly employed at larger Japanese corporations. Indeed, the treatment of such employees has largely shaped the popular understanding of Japanese employment practices. While the number of Japanese employees who enjoyed he privileges and benefits of this kind of employment to the fullest was in fact limited, the underlying principles still constituted strong societal ideals in terms of personal ambitions and life courses. Yet, Japanese companies are changing the composition of their workforces. In 2004 the number of non-regular employees reached 16 million employees, or roughly one third of Japan’s working population (Table 2.4). This development not only threatened the position of regular employees but also created new employment realities for a large share of the Japanese workforce.

14 March 2003 — There is talk that Y-san from the materials group who originally came with me from the same company, K. Heavy Industries, is going to resign happily soon … After she leaves, I will essentially be the only regular employee left … Nowadays in order to cut costs, they are paying for dispatch workers everywhere.⁶⁹

8 December 2003 — I am going to turn 30 in March. The Japanese recession has deepened, so I honestly don’t know what will happen. Honestly, I have many feelings of uncertainty. So I have become determined that I really do not want to fail when changing jobs next time. I feel that companies are employing arubaito [irregular, mostly student workers] and dispatch workers and are reducing the number of regular workers.⁷⁰