An article published in a Japanese newspaper last week may not be met with too much enthusiasm by this year’s crop of Japanese college students in Japan. The average monthly salary for new graduates lucky enough to find a job remained flat at two hundred thousand yens compared to the graduating class of 2008.
A soft economy coupled with payroll reduction costs for most companies were the contributing factors for the stagnant growth in compensation.
The Japanese school year begins in April and ends in March. Job hunting is the priority throughout the year for most graduating classes. Japanese companies recruit heavily each year and provide very appealing brochures promoting their products, financial strength, and benefits graduates can receive in exchange for working for these companies.
During good economic times, most Japanese students receive conditional employment notices prior to summer vacation, and are happy to focus 100% of their attention on studies for the remainder of the year.
My professional career began in the early 1970’s upon landing my first job following my graduation. Then, the Japanese economy was growing very rapidly, and employers were jumping over each other handing out job offers to qualified students.
Jobs were easy to come by, and the average monthly salary jumped more than 20% compared to the previous year. Salaries continued to grow, and within a year, my salary jumped another 30%. This double digit growth in salary did slow down during the 1980’s, but remained at 5% to 10% every year.
Toward the end of the 1980’s, Japan’s economic bubble burst and salary increases were non existent during the 1990’s – this period of time was coined “The Lost Decade”.
Hiring managers now had the pick of the litter and chose talented graduates at very reasonable salary rates. Many newly-minted grads found it very difficult to secure employment with stable companies so they jumped from company to company. This segment of the population is now in their late thirties / early forties and continues to job hop as companies consolidate and workforces are reduced.
In early 2002, small glimmers of hope appeared in the Japanese job market and, as Japan’s economy improved a bit…things began to look brighter.
Unfortunately, most geographic market conditions did an about face during the credit crisis last fall.
History repeated itself as Japanese companies and many other companies across the globe slashed workforces and placed expansion plans on the back burner.
Meanwhile, most students from Japan’s graduating classes for 2010 have not received any conditional employment acceptances, plus they feel this is the worst year to graduate. Many students are pounding the pavement wearing “interview suits” in search for the perfect job.
These students are easy to point out: young, wearing new clothing, sans smiles on faces, with lines across their foreheads communicating out-of-work “stress” to passers by.
Don’t worry youngsters. Some of us grizzly, old veterans have been through this once, even twice. Things will get better.
Source: EPT Newsletter, VentureOutsource.com, October 2009
Get list of EMS manufacturers for your requirements (Its free)
Save time and money. Find quality EMS manufacturers. Fast. Venture Outsource has a massive, global database of contract electronic design and manufacturing capabilities. Speak with a Provider Advisor.
“Was able to very quickly find details on the important elements of setting up EMS and ODM partnerships, talked with an advisor for personalized info on quality providers matching our requirements while getting up to speed quickly about the industry and connect with key staff from like-minded companies and potential partners. Great resource.”
— Jeff Treuhaft, Sr. Vice President, Fusion-IO
Advisors tell you matches we find for your needs, answer your questions and, can share EMS industry knowledge specific to your industries and markets.
