Is it Useful to Import “Lifetime Employment” to Russia?

Abstract

The article questions the proposal of Yu. P. Voronov on the partial implementation of the system of lifelong employment similar to the Japanese one in the conditions of modern Russia. It is shown that the efficiency of the Japanese system is based on the complementarity of a number of social institutions, each of which generates serious socio-economic systemic defects. Partial implementation of lifelong employment is not possible. This is confirmed by the fact that there is no full-scale application of life-time employment either in the US or in Europe, and this term mistakenly refers to the system of indefinite (permanent) employment contracts. It is considered, how the institutional environment of labor markets in Japan, Europe and the United States is changing. It is shown, specifically, that the lifetime employment system in Japan is gradually being modified and is actually dying out. It is shown also that life-long employment not only does not facilitate the situation for older workers, but also provokes the moral risk for employers – the latters’ desire for early retirement of the employees, which leads to an aggravation of the economic situation for older people. Lifetime employment in Japan is being modified to increase the exploitation of workers of all ages, especially the youngest and oldest ones. It is noted that permanent contracts are also gradually dying out, as the change of technological paradigm (digital transformation) requires a more flexible structure of the labor market.