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Japanese firms in China hoping to retain talent better in 2008

January 2, 2008
By Ken Worsley


This quote appeared in the December 31 edition of the Nikkei in a piece entitled Japan Firms Eye Changes To Keep China Workers On Longer:

Until now, Japanese companies in China have provided workers few opportunities for pay raises, except when being promoted to management. As a result, Japanese companies have become less popular places to work than their European and U.S. counterparts with operations in China.

By introducing Western-style structures to reward employees for their capabilities and performance, the Japanese companies aim to encourage talented personnel to stay.

Hopefully their reputations aren’t already damaged beyond the point of “no return for at least a few years.” I also think the quote should stand on its own, without too much comment from us; it pretty much speaks for itself. It will also be interesting to see what kind of follow-up information we get on this issue in the coming months…

Filed Under Business, China, Labor and Wages 

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Comments

3 Responses to “Japanese firms in China hoping to retain talent better in 2008”

  1. Kristofer on January 3rd, 2008 1:29 pm

    “reward employees for their capabilities and performance” is something they should start in Japan as well. Rewarding workers mostly based on seniority is not exactly encouraging.

  2. John S on January 4th, 2008 2:58 am

    I agree there. “Performance” based evaluation at Japanese firms is a joke when they hold on to sempai-kohai relationships at work. The way people are trained from a young age makes performance based compensation impossible. If J-firms are having so much trouble doing this in China, why don’t they look at how Toyota and Honda work in the US? There’s no need to do this domestically, it goes against what the ruling elite wants.

  3. Garrett on January 9th, 2008 5:58 am

    Is performance-based pay really what Chinese workers want or is it just more money? Those are two very different things.

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