CRIA Global – Japan Workplace Knowledge for All Workers

 Read the original article (in Japanese): 入社前に情報収集、くちコミもチェック「ブラック企業に入らないために気をつけたこと」とは｜よろず〜ニュース 　すっかり浸透した「ブラック企業」という言葉。転職や就職で企業を選ぶ際には「ブラック企業を避けたい」という気持ちで活動する yorozoonews.jp Introduction | Exploitative Labor Can No Longer Be Hidden Even when buying inexpensive household electronics, consumers check reviews. The same applies to hotels that cost tens of thousands of yen per night—and even to choosing a hospital. Searching and reading reviews on the assumption of “I can switch if it doesn’t fit” has become a basic life habit. Despite this reality, some companies still design their hiring strategies on the assumption that people will not investigate the company they are about to join —a workplace where they will spend eight hours a day, 250 days a year, and where differences of millions of yen over several years are at stake. At that point alone, their understanding of the times is already out of date. The theme of this article is clear. Exploitative labor practices are no longer a q...

  Read the original article (in Japanese): なんだかんだ「ゴマすり上手」の昇進が早い日本企業の未来は悲惨…元スタバのCEOが実践してきた社員のやる気を損なわない公正な人事とは | 集英社オンライン | ニュースを本気で噛み砕け Introduction | Why Are “Yes-Men” Always at the Top? Every company has its “yes-men managers.” In front of senior executives, they are deferential, polite, and quick to respond. Yet in front of colleagues and subordinates, their attitude suddenly changes. They look down on others. They issue orders. They shift responsibility. The atmosphere turns toxic. And yet, for some reason, they are evaluated highly. For some reason, they keep getting promoted. Let’s be blunt. Feeling good when you are praised is, biologically and from an evolutionary psychology perspective, almost a built-in feature. In Japan in particular—given its village-based social structures, island geography, and rice-farming cultural roots—this tendency is even stronger from a cultural anthropology standpoint. In Japanese companies, flattery is an error that is especially likely to occ...

 Read the original article (in Japanese): 移民と社会：「排外主義は怖い」　外国人規制強化、コンビニ大手首脳が抱く危機感 | 毎日新聞 Prologue | We Don’t Need Idea-Less Convenience Stores “If there are no foreign workers, stores can’t operate.” “Xenophobia is frightening.” Seeing recent statements from the convenience store industry, I can’t help but feel embarrassed. This is supposed to be one of Japan’s representative industries—so why all the whining? The real issue is not “exclusion versus coexistence.” The problem is that an industry which should sit at the cutting edge of efficiency is producing its very first answer as: “Please increase the number of workers.” Convenience stores are an extremely design-dependent business: small sales floors, minimal staffing, high turnover. That is precisely why they once evolved not by adding people , but by changing systems to reduce labor . Labor shortages are not a sign of decline. They are a warning to update the design. If the industry ignores that signal and clings to the st...

  Read the original article (in Japanese): 新卒一括採用をやめた富士通で何が起きているのか。時田社長が語る人事改革の現在地 | Business Insider Japan Prologue｜Fujitsu’s Abolition of Mass New-Graduate Hiring Is an Event That Shakes the Foundations of Japan’s Hiring Culture “What happens when Fujitsu stops mass hiring of new graduates?” The reason this single headline caused such a stir is simple: This is not a mere change in hiring format. It is an event that strikes at the core of a belief Japanese companies have clung to for nearly 70 years: “Youth itself is value.” Fujitsu unified its hiring pipeline and shifted its criteria from “Are you a new graduate?” to “Do you have the skills and experience required?” Yet public discussion remains superficial. Won’t young people stop joining? Is it safe to throw away the ‘new graduate’ brand? These concerns miss the point entirely. This shift exposes two structural problems Japan has long refused to confront: 1. The irrational obsession with youth 2. The chronic devaluation o...

 Read the original article (in Japanese): 「完成度は低くていい…」所ジョージが語る“仕事の極意”にぐうの音も出ない 仕事を丁寧にやろうとしすぎて、ドツボにハマった経験はないだろうか。かつてそんな状態に苦しんでいた筆者は、所ジョージのアドバ diamond.jp Prologue | Why “It’s Okay If the Finish Isn’t Perfect” Can Sound Risky “There’s no need for it to be perfect—just finish it first.” There is no doubt that this phrase has saved many people. When the pursuit of perfection causes paralysis and time keeps slipping away, these words serve as a powerful antidote to stagnation. The phrase was coined by George Tokoro , and paired with his free-spirited way of life, it is often consumed in a context that celebrates being “unrestricted by form” or “action over preparation.” However, when applied directly to the world of business, a sense of unease emerges. Business is not a form of personal expression; it is an activity that inevitably involves others—customers, business partners, organizations, and brands. As a result, the phrase is easily misinterpreted as meaning “don’t think,” “no pr...

  Read the original article (in Japanese): なんと「9割」の社長が労働規制緩和に賛成　2026年は「働き方改革」の揺り戻しが起こる？ #エキスパートトピ（横山信弘） - エキスパート - Yahoo!ニュース 日本経済新聞の記事によると、高市政権が検討する規制緩和に対し、86.3％が賛成と回答した（社長100人アンケート）。つまり news.yahoo.co.jp Introduction｜Deregulation Is “Dangerous,” Yet Also an “Opportunity” The issue of labor deregulation has once again returned to the policy agenda. Given that it runs counter to the direction of labor policy over the past several years, it is natural for reactions such as “Is this a rollback of work-style reforms?” or “Are we going back to long working hours?” to arise almost reflexively. However, this is not the moment to stop thinking. The real question is not whether deregulation itself is good or bad. Whose freedom does this deregulation expand? The freedom of workers? Or the convenience of employers? Under the same制度, outcomes can be completely opposite depending on how it is implemented. Labor deregulation has the potential to move the labor market forward, but it also carr...