Of course it’s better to work fewer hours, earn higher profits, and receive higher wages.


 Read the original article (in Japanese):

だから｢勤勉な日本人｣は貧乏になった…｢定時で帰るドイツ人｣に追い抜かれ､GDP4位に転落した決定的理由 日本企業が｢非正規を増やしたツケ｣で失ったもの | PRESIDENT Online（プレジデントオンライン）


Why Can’t Japanese Companies Do the Basics of Business?

Working hours should be shorter. Products should be sold at higher value. Wages should be higher. Products should last longer. These are the basics of business. Yet Japanese companies consistently fail at them. Employees work long hours but generate little profit. Good products are sold cheaply. Wages remain stagnant. Products are designed for quick replacement. As a result, there is no structure that allows companies to reward their people.

Clear Differences in the Data

Germany’s labor productivity is about 1.6 times that of Japan. Germany has overtaken Japan in GDP, ranking third in the world, and its average annual income is nearly 1.5 times higher. Germans work fewer hours, earn efficiently, and reinvest profits into education and wages. Japan, on the other hand, works long hours but generates thin profits, leaving no room for investment in its workforce. This is the structural gap.

The “Old Curse” Binding Japanese Companies

Since the era of high economic growth, Japan has been trapped by outdated business beliefs:

  • “Unless we constantly release new products, we can’t sell.”

  • “Good products should be sold cheaply.”

  • “Shortening the replacement cycle equals growth.”

These ideas overload development and sales, erode profits, and block investment in people. The result: education budgets and labor costs are cut, non-regular employment rises, and skills never accumulate. Japan falls into a vicious cycle where growth cannot take root.

How Germany Is Different

Germany narrows its product range, sells long-lasting goods at higher prices, and builds strong brands. Higher profitability allows companies to invest in training and wages, and experienced workers create even more value. Shorter working hours with higher incomes are possible because the profit structure is sound. The key difference lies not in capability, but in the philosophy of how to earn.

A Profit Structure That Destroys People

Japanese companies think only about “how to make things cheaper,” not “how to sell at higher value.” Profits are slim, so labor costs are treated as an adjustment variable. Employees’ efforts go unrewarded: no raises, no training, no long-term return. In such an environment, people cannot grow. This is not simply a human resources issue—it is the direct consequence of a flawed business model.

The Structural Reforms Japan Needs

What Japan needs is not greater cost-cutting, but profit efficiency. Concretely:

  • Reduce product variety; focus on long-life, high-value goods

  • Redefine efficiency from “cutting labor hours” to “maximizing profit margins”

  • Treat wages, training, and time not as costs but as investments

  • Shift management metrics from “sales growth” to “earning properly”

Without such reforms, Japanese companies will continue expending energy on a treadmill of exhaustion.

Earn Properly, Reward Properly

Japan already has the technology and the talent. What is missing is the design philosophy. Working hours can be shorter. Products can be sold for higher value. Wages can be higher. Products can last longer. Germany has already proven that all of this is possible.

Companies that reward their people are the ones that survive. For Japan, the path forward is not simply “working harder,” but returning to the fundamentals: earn properly, and reward properly.


Read in Japanese↓

良いもの職人でも稼ぎ方が下手なニッポン（2025.8.29）

Read more articles (in Japanese)↓

中小企業は「大企業の模倣」をやめよ｜柔軟性こそが戦略である（2025.8.25）

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