Yet another
oddity in the traditional world of
Asian economic models. The salaryman is a
soldier to his own
corporation; fanatically
loyal, and perfectly willing to fight to the death for that very
corporation's
honor and of course,
sales and
earnings. A tad different from the
American salaryman, because these appointments were mostly
for life, that's right, 45 years in the same company. Whereas the
American worker is likely to hop in and out of the
job market looking for new and better jobs, the
Japanese man is
static, and reaps massive
fringe benefits as a result. The downside is that it could get
really boring.
The cubicle jungle has a different meaning in Japan. Work is life, work is worship. Your social life revolves around the workplace. Family problems? Ask your boss. Need advice? Ask your work buddies. The boss is not just a managing figure, he is expected to be a mentor in both work and off-work areas, such as matchmaking, dispensing sage advice, and even therapy for the stressed.
Salarymen are fanatically loyal to their employers, and rarely leave. Life employment was a guaranteed thing in Japan until a few years ago, and along with that, life benefits. It was often unheard of to quit and go to another company.
Japan plunged into a recession in the early 90's, and as a result, college graduates no longer expect life employment. There has been reported suicides of laid-off workers, so distraught they were with the shame of being fired. As a result, the job market in Japan has become even more competitive than before, but also more fluid, allowing bright talents to make it on their own instead of joining a keiretsu, formerly standard and unquestioned procedure in the Japanese corporate world.