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The social contract in Japan was that you’d give your life to your employer in exchange for a fair wage and stable employment until you retired. Neither of thos

The social contract in Japan was that you’d give your life to your employer in exchange for a fair wage and stable employment until you retired. Neither of those things are true now. Wages are low and companies either ignore their legal obligations or hire people as contractors, who have less rights than full time “employees”. Now, many people, especially women* and young people are finding that it’s possible to run a small business for 3-4 days a week and make more money than an entry or even mid-level full time office job. So, I think Japan finally enforcing rules against abusive behavior at the workplace and pushing for a 4-day week, if it really happens, is a reflection of where society is at right now. *Women have a low wage ceiling because they are expected to quit and have children at any time.

nkssy 5y ago
I think it says a lot about Japanese workplace pay if a small business at 3-4 days per week can outperform it. Not that I doubt it in any way: I've just started my own sideline and I'm already at 25% of my job income yet only putting in 5 hours of effort to do so.
- TrackerFF 5y ago
  Yes, but for how long though. Many of these Japanese firms are many hundreds of years old, and will probably stick around for some hundred more years. Being able to run a small business for 5-10 years is very possible, but there's no guarantee you'll be able to do that for 20-30-40 years. We often hear about the success stories, when it comes to small businesses and startups, but there are unfortunately those that will fail after N years, even if they had some pretty good years.
  - draw_down 5y ago
    It doesn’t have to be the same small business across all those years, right? I don’t think anyone is saying these small businesses are trying to become hundred-year firms.
suls 5y ago
Entry-level to mid-level is about 15-35万円/month. I am really curious what sort of SMEs you are talking about. Mind giving some examples?
nextstep 5y ago
This erosion of the collective belief in this social contract is true for much of the western world as well, where wages have been flat for 40+ years while productivity skyrocketed.

nkssy 5y ago

I think it says a lot about Japanese workplace pay if a small business at 3-4 days per week can outperform it. Not that I doubt it in any way: I've just started my own sideline and I'm already at 25% of my job income yet only putting in 5 hours of effort to do so.

TrackerFF 5y ago
Yes, but for how long though. Many of these Japanese firms are many hundreds of years old, and will probably stick around for some hundred more years. Being able to run a small business for 5-10 years is very possible, but there's no guarantee you'll be able to do that for 20-30-40 years. We often hear about the success stories, when it comes to small businesses and startups, but there are unfortunately those that will fail after N years, even if they had some pretty good years.
- draw_down 5y ago
  It doesn’t have to be the same small business across all those years, right? I don’t think anyone is saying these small businesses are trying to become hundred-year firms.

suls 5y ago

Entry-level to mid-level is about 15-35万円/month. I am really curious what sort of SMEs you are talking about. Mind giving some examples?

nextstep 5y ago

This erosion of the collective belief in this social contract is true for much of the western world as well, where wages have been flat for 40+ years while productivity skyrocketed.