Hello everyone.
How difficult is it to change your job in Japan? The answer is, in Japan, it is difficult to change the company you work for, especially if you are a full time employee. This article will explain the reasons why it is so difficult to do so in Japan.

The Tradition of New Graduate Recruitment

Japanese companies still have the mentality of “training new graduates.” This tradition has continued for 50 years, and helped Japan achieve economic growth. Although this view is starting to change recently, many large companies still value new graduates and educate them with care.

So, if you would like to change your job, one tactic would be to consider new companies or companies with diverse recruiting methods. These companies do not have a negative view on people who would like to change their environment.

It is risky to hire full time employees

Once companies hire full-time employees, they are not permitted to fire them easily.
This comes from the fact that in Japan, there are numerous strict laws that protects the rights of the employees. Companies are prohibited from firing full-time employees without a rational reason. For instance, even if the employee’s performance is much lower than the company’s expectation, that may not be a sufficient reason to fire that employee. Although this system may benefit the workers as they will have work security, it increases the risk of hiring a full time employee for employers. Thus, the difficulty of firing an employee intensifies the risk of mid-career recruitment, which as a result makes changing one’s career an arduous journey.

Changing your workplace is difficult since companies do not fire their employees easily

When deciding to work for another company, many people would like to work as a full time employee. However, in reality, there are very few job openings. Once you enter as a full time employee, there is no reason to quit because of the satisfying salary, welfare, and working conditions. Therefore, many employees continue working at the same company.

In addition, contract workers often get promoted to a full-time permanent employee. In that case, all the positions will be filled without making an official job post opening. This is also one of the reasons why mid-career recruitment is not common.

What did you think?
In general, it is still hard to change the company you work for. Meanwhile, you can also widen your chances of getting a position by enhancing your market value, such as by obtaining a special skill.