Toyota union to propose larger focus on performance in pay increases

Some major Japanese companies have decided to change their wage system from one based on seniority to one reflecting worker ability and performance.

Going to be a real interesting few years for this to get implemented. It's going to take a lot of change in the manner of thinking across the board and in the corporate board room to start!

I can not imagine senior managers having lower pay than a subordinate here! My manager often gives me a pile of crap because I am of a higher pay grade than some people who were hired years before me, and they never miss a chance to point it out at my semi-annual evals.

 My manager often gives me a pile of crap because I am of a higher pay grade than some people who were hired years before me, and they never miss a chance to point it out at my semi-annual evals

Just smile & politely IGNORE your supposed manager!

This is both good and bad. While it is good to see employees get a performance based pay structure, it also gives employers a very wide spectrum and criteria to deny salary increases to employees.

I'm happy to see this as what is proposed is rebalancing of the system. While salary raises based on seniority covers inflation, it does not cover innovation and achievement.

Whatever it is for Toyota, most of the employed, and thats 70% plus, in this country rather care about minimum wages. And that is less than 800¥ per hour in my prefecture.

Which is a sacrifice for what? Glory of the islands?

I fear that unachievable goals will be set and when workers can’t attain them, they will not be given pay raises. Or else they’ll have to do like some of the JP insurance workers did and fraudulently sell policies etc. while in theory this is good, I don’t think it will work here!

You know, hearing about just how draconian the working hours in Japan are, was the main reason why I decided to at least hold off on moving there. At least for another year anyway. But with the story, in addition to the new Japanese law that required companies to limit their overtime hours that they force their employees to work, is very encouraging indeed.

I’m not saying it’ll be perfect, far from it actually, but I’m from the US. In addition to the work hours being quite draconian as well, there’s also the atrocious way workers are treated here in the US for the most part. So I’ve been thinking as of late, what the real difference is anyway.

There’s a ton of stuff that I absolutely love about Japan, which was the main reason that I wanted to move there anyway. And I still do, especially with reading stories like this.

This is going to be an interesting one of if gets implemented for the following reasons

Japan culturally has a long history of deference and respect based on seniority which is usually earned by years in service/age etc (the old Sempai - Kohai relationship etc). How will this be factored into the company culture if a junior member of staff is judged to be more capable and is paid more than one who has been employed for longer? What effect will it have on interpersonal relations in the company? In many 'Western' companies. dealing with these kinds of relationships is the norm and most people are accustomed to it.

Secondly, from an HR perspective, Japanese companies will probably have little experience with accurately assessing skills and aptitude and then awarding differing pay rates based on these measurements. Unless they get up to speed quickly, this could also be another source of friction.

 "Systems at some Japanese companies are no longer matching the modern era."