iwaoshumpei deregulation of layoffs claims that āwages will increase due to job mobility,ā but are part-time workers paid more per hour than full-time workers? Are temporary workers paid more than full-time employees? Do small and medium-sized companies with unstable employment pay more than large companies? ā¦The very foundation of the argument is strange, isnāt it? If you are a business owner and you are saying that the easing of restrictions on layoffs will help you, I can understand your point of view, but letās put aside the pros and cons.
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methane It is not that part-time is more expensive than full-time, but that part-time is more likely to become full-time.
tabbata Is there any developed country that pays less than Japan!
The current restrictions on layoffs are only protecting the older, incompetent, middle-aged full-time employees at the expense of the younger, non-regular ones, if you ask who and what they are protecting.
usaminoriya Seriously, in general countries with looser firing regulations have higher youth unemployment rates. High labor mobility makes it easy to get human resources from outside, so young people without basic skills as members of society are cold-shouldered in the labor market. Why, although it is a relative issue, I think what Japan needs is more diversification of employment contract options on the part of workers than relaxation of dismissal regulations.
tabbata Even the US has a little over 4% unemployment nowā¦
Even if unemployment and income levels are a constant trade-off, the U.S. unemployment rate is just over 4% and the Japanese unemployment rate is just over 2%. Average income is roughly double, depending on the exchange rate of the basis of comparison.
95% employment rate*2 vs. 98%*1, almost double the total labor income with the same population. Which is the more desirable economy, Japanese or US?
usaminoriya For your reference, Iāll put up the employment rate by age group by country from JILās data book.
tabbata Thanks for the employment rate data. Given the difference in salary levels between the US and Japan, doesnāt this change the conclusion that total labor income seems to be much higher in the US (even if the population size is the same) even with this level of difference in employment rates?ćAnd does it disprove the claim that one of the major factors producing that difference is the firing restrictions?
usaminoriya But the gap will widen and opportunities will become more and more unequal. Up to a certain point, Japan has had better economic growth, and I donāt think there is much correlation between the rate of economic growth and employment regulations!
tabbata Inequality will widen. It is inevitable in the knowledge economy of the 21st century. The only way for the country as a whole to become wealthier is to increase productivity, and I believe that relaxing restrictions on layoffs is a natural prerequisite for moving labor to growth industries and companies, and for individual workers to invest in their own human capital with a sense of urgency and ownership.
iwaoshumpei (Since you mentioned me in your post a while ago) My values are close to Usamiās, but I think Tabata-sanās ideas are also consistent in logic. Mr. Tabataās logic is very clear as the logic of a winner. The rest is a value judgment as to whether the disparity is right or wrong. What I find strange is that the āvictims of social disparityā sometimes argue this logic. - Widening of the Good Gap
masanork I am glad to see that for the first time in a while there is a lively debate about restrictions on layoffs. Weāve gone from a labor surplus to a labor shortage, and unlike the debate a quarter of a century ago, I think weāre getting outside of job mobility as a pathway for moving labor into growth sectors, accumulating human capital, and increasing productivity through technological innovation, and masanork What is difficult to understand about employment regulations in Japan from the outside is that small, medium and micro enterprises, which account for the majority of the population, are free to dismiss workers in effect and do not receive compensation, traditional large enterprises whose legal departments avoid lawsuits and are bound by past precedents, and foreign companies that take acceptable legal risks based on economic rationality. The reason why it is difficult to understand the employment regulations in Japan is that the same legal system seems to have completely different rules for workers in the case of small, medium, and micro companies, which are the majority of the population, traditional large companies, which avoid lawsuits and are bound by past precedents, and foreign companies, which take acceptable legal risks based on economic rationality.
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