Neither regional areas nor SMEs can compete unless they leverage ’talent sliding.’

Read the original article (in Japanese):

Preface | Regional Areas Cannot Compete on “Equal Terms”

The message put forward by Hioki City in Kagoshima Prefecture—
“We can’t beat Tokyo on salary. So we’ll compete on how we work.”
marks a clear turning point in the discourse on regional revitalization.

The first point that must be emphasized is this: the direction itself is not wrong.

Structurally, it is almost impossible for regional areas to compete with major cities under the same employment conditions.
And yet, for many years in Japan, idealistic arguments such as “regional areas have their own appeal” have been endlessly repeated. As a result, talent either remained concentrated in cities or continued to flow out of regional areas, leaving them exhausted.

At the very least, Hioki City’s attempt takes a step away from this illusion and makes a realistic decision to step out of salary-based competition. This deserves recognition.
The real issue lies beyond that point.

Chapter 1 | The Gap Between Urban and Regional Labor Environments Is No Longer Debatable

Let us first organize the structural differences between urban and regional labor environments—
not emotionally, but analytically.

Conceptual Comparison: Urban vs. Regional Labor Environments

Aspect	Urban Areas	Regional Areas
Average wage	High	Low
Number of job openings	Numerous	Limited
Job mobility / promotion	Abundant	Scarce
Corporate density	High	Low
Information access	Overwhelming	Limited
Living environment / transportation	Well developed	Often disadvantaged
Career restart opportunities	Relatively easy	Difficult

These differences did not arise from a lack of effort or creativity on the part of regional areas.
They are the product of a structurally city-centered economic system.

This means regional areas are not in a position to “correct” the gap.
They must instead start from the premise of inequality and ask, “Given this reality, what can we do?”

Accordingly, claims such as:

“You can work under the same conditions even in regional areas”
“If you have the right mindset, you’ll choose the countryside”

are nothing more than ideological arguments that ignore labor market realities.

The conclusion is clear.

Regional areas cannot win by equalizing conditions.
If they are to compete at all, they must change the battlefield.

Autonomy. Slack. Life design. Wholeness of work.
In this context, Hioki City’s strategy of “competing on how we work” is highly rational.

Chapter 2 | The Framing of “Workplaces Chosen by Young People and Women”

Up to this point, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with Hioki City’s policy.
However, one phrase leaves a strong sense of discomfort:

“A workplace chosen by young people and women.”

At first glance, this sounds familiar and even considerate.
In reality, however, it conveys the opposite.

It carries the unspoken message that
“middle-aged and older workers are not assumed from the outset.”

While employment law prohibits explicit age restrictions, hiring decisions are not driven by law but by the values of those doing the hiring.

Wording in job postings
Questions asked during interviews
Vague criteria like “someone who fits our culture”

These inevitably expose the true mindset of management.

The moment “young people” or “women” become the grammatical subject,
a way of thinking that narrows the entrance by age or attributes takes hold.

It is also evidence that, despite lamenting labor shortages, employers still believe they remain on the “choosing side.”

If companies were truly desperate for talent, they would never say “we want young people and women.”

What this really signals is:
“We want labor that is convenient, inexpensive, and easy to manage.”

In essence, this mindset is no different from seeking migrant labor.

Chapter 3 | What Regional Areas Truly Need Is “Talent Sliding”

Subsidies and institutional reforms are often discussed as solutions to the urban–regional gap.
But none of them has proven decisive.

The reason is simple: the allocation of talent itself has not changed.

When people move between companies—when talent slides—their:

Skills
Know-how
Insights
Networks

flow in as new resources, interact with existing ones, and activate business growth.

Even talent deemed “no longer competitive” in urban markets can regain competitiveness when company size or environment changes.
This is the true meaning of labor mobility.

The talent regional areas should seek includes:

People beginning to feel discomfort with urban work styles
Mid-career professionals whose demand declined due to age or restructuring
Skilled individuals who lost autonomy despite experience

They are not lacking ability.
They are simply mismatched with high-density, high-competition urban labor markets.

What regional areas must offer is value that cities cannot easily provide:

Lower pay
But greater autonomy
Being needed for one’s abilities
Visibility of the entire scope of work

Only when this asymmetric value is honestly presented does talent move.

Chapter 4 | Why Regional SMEs Need Big-Corporate Know-How

In regional economies, small and medium-sized enterprises are the main actors.
As a result, “family-style management” and “local rootedness” are often idealized.

The outcome, however, is predictable:

Over-reliance on individuals
Opaque evaluation
No career paths
Young people do not come
Mid-career talent does not grow

This is no coincidence.
It is the result of regional firms continuing practices that large corporations abandoned after years of failure.

What SMEs truly need is not youth.
They need proven careers.

Regional SMEs do not need to imitate large corporate structures.
They need large corporations’ accumulated success and failure knowledge:

Ways of structuring work
Data-driven decision-making
Negotiation skills
Marketing that creates products and services
Advertising and PR planning
Pricing and profit design
Project and organizational management
HR and recruitment planning
Risk and conflict handling
External relationships

These only function when brought in with the people who experienced them.
Hiring inexperienced workers alone produces nothing beyond copies of existing operations.

Chapter 5 | Hiring Based on Age or Gender Is a Declaration of “We Don’t Evaluate Skills”

Selection in hiring is necessary.
But there is no justification for making age the first filter.

The proper order of hiring decisions should be:

Required roles and outcomes
Candidate’s skills and experience
Work conditions
Cultural and value alignment
Age (reference only)

Placing age or gender at the front is equivalent to declaring:
“We cannot define work or results.”

Chapter 6 | Companies Are Now the Ones Being Chosen

In today’s labor market, companies are also on the side of being chosen.
Hiring is not unilateral screening—it is matching.

When conditions are equal, regional companies are disadvantaged in:

Access
Living environment
Information availability

That is why they must keep entry points wide:

Not limited to youth
Not limited to women
Including mid-career and older talent
Including talent sliding from urban areas

Do not cut off entrants by attributes.
Filter only after widening the gate.

This is not optics—it is the foundation of becoming a lean, resilient company.

Conclusion | What Is Needed Is Not a “New Look,” but a “New Way of Seeing People”

Flex time, side jobs, remote work, well-being—
these are merely appearances.

Hiring values inevitably leak through language and context.
If values remain outdated, the right people will never be attracted.

From choosing → being chosen
From attributes → roles
From ideology → structure

Hioki City’s direction is right.
But abandoning uniformity requires changing values, not just systems.

Regional change does not begin with制度 (institutions).
It begins with changing how people are chosen.

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