翻訳 44
年功序列の意味とは？
ビジネスにおける年功序列の意味は、勤続年数や年齢に応じて昇格や昇給を行うことです。日本独自の雇用形態で実力主義や成果主義の対局をいく制度ですが、現在これを見直す企業が増えています。
高度成長期における日本では終身雇用が基本で、企業に長く勤めた分、それに応じた昇格や昇給が望めました。その結果、雇用も安定していました。いい意味で年功序列が機能していたのです。
しかし平成不況に陥ってからは、実力主義や成果主義が重視され、企業に長くいれば偉くなれるという年功序列も神話と化しつつあります。
年功序列では、企業に入社して年を重ねるにつれ、仕事のノウハウや知識を蓄積することから、昇格、昇給を認めるという背景があります。また、若い時は給与に対して生産能力が上回り、年齢が増すと、逆に生産能力を給与が上回ります。
結果として若い時に生産性が上回っていた頃の分の給与を年をとってから受け取るという意味で、年功序列が採用されていました。
年功序列が廃止されると、実力主義や成果主義に切り替わり、結果を残したものが高給を得るという、一見メリットしかないように思えますが、デメリットもあります。
それまで安い給料で成果を上げてきた中高年層が、若手と同じ働きをしなければ高給が保障されないということです。企業側からすると年功序列の廃止は良い意味で機能しますが、中高年の労働者のサイドから見ればこれまでの努力が実らなくなるというデメリットもあるのです。
成果主義は能力のある若手の士気を高め、生産性を高めるのに役立ちます。年功序列の廃止はそうした意味ではメリットしか感じられませんが、将来に安定した給料を得られるという安定性を阻害するものでもあるのです。
https://employment.en-japan.com/tenshoku-daijiten/12705/
What is the seniority system?
In business, the seniority system refers to the practice of awarding promotions and pay rises based on employee age and length of continuous service in a company. It is a uniquely Japanese employment system, set apart from the meritocratic and performance-based approach, although an increasing number of companies are reconsidering its role within their businesses.
■ The positives of the seniority system
During the post-war period of high economic growth, lifetime employment was the foundation of business in Japan. The longer employees worked at a company, the more promotions and pay rises they could expect to receive. As a result, employment was stable. It was a way in which the seniority system worked well. Though since the onset of the Heisei Recession (or 'Lost Decade'), more importance has been placed on a meritocratic, performance-based system, and the seniority system, based on the notion that the longer an employee works for a company, the better they are at their job, becomes more and more like a tale of the past.
■ The background of the seniority system
Under the seniority system, promotions and pay rises were an acknowledgement of the increased knowledge and job expertise an employee accumulated as they worked at a company over many years. While the productivity of young people tends to exceed their salary, the older an employee gets, the more their salary exceeds their productivity. As a result, under the seniority system, employees in effect received some of the pay from their younger and more productive days as they aged.
■ The downsides to abolishing the seniority system
If the seniority system is entirely abolished and replaced with a meritocratic, performance-based one, then employees who achieve the best results will be rewarded with high salaries. At a glance, there seem to only be upsides to such a system, but there are also downsides. It means that employees who are middle aged and older and have been successful up until now on a low wage will not be guaranteed a high wage unless they work to the same degree as younger workers. From a company standpoint, there are advantages to the abolition of the seniority system, but for employees who are middle aged and older, the work they have done up until now will no longer be rewarded in their future salaries.
■ What the abolition of the seniority system means
The performance-based approach is useful in boosting the morale of talented younger workers and increasing productivity. From that point of view, the abolition of the seniority system seems to be nothing but beneficial, but it also impedes the security of obtaining a stable wage in the future.
