Japan's Lifetime Employment System

One of the reasons I returned to college was to learn about Japan in a way I can't learn about by asking questions. Some concepts of Japanese life are so intristic to the society even a person living in Japan their entire life can not explain it.

Today, I learned about a concept in Japan called the "Lifetime Employment System". Companies hire workers and even when job production and demand dips, they refuse to fire or lay off their workforce. Instead, the company struggles to find other means to raise money and lower costs.This is why Japan remains one of the countries with the lowest unemployment rate in the world. As part of being a "lifetime" worker, companies provided dutifully, almost paternally, for their employees. This includes transportation, health care and a suitable cost of living. 

Why is this system bad? Well for one, failing companies struggle to make money while continuing to employ their most expensive asset, the worker. Second, it locks out new employees. If a company hasn't fired anyone in a long time, how can there be room for new talent? And of course the stagnation of talent leads to companies who do business one way for a long time, which is not a good thing when companies need to change and adapt to the times.

I dunno, I found it all interesting and thought my readers might too. Here, you can find an article about the Lifetime Employment System and it's drawbacks:

"In Japan, Secure Jobs Have Cost"