Majority of new hires in Japan prefer promotion by seniority over merit for 1st time: poll

The Mainichi

17 hours ago

TOKYO -- A Japanese university survey on new hires in fiscal 2025 has revealed a preference for promotion by seniority over a performance-based system for the first time since the survey's current methodology was introduced in fiscal 2006.
The survey was conducted by Sanno University's Institute of Management. A representative noted, "Rather than competing, there is a growing desire among new employees to keep working while steadily gaining experience in a stable environment."
When asked whether they preferred "meritocracy" or "seniority," a total of 43.6% of respondents opted for meritocracy, while 56.3% chose seniority, surpassing the halfway mark for the first time. Meritocracy had constantly overtaken seniority as a preference since fiscal 2006, when support for an achievement-based system stood at 65.3%, but this trend has now been reversed.
Additionally, 69.4% of respondents expressed a desire for lifetime employment, and a total of 89.2% stated they wanted to work at the same company for a long time. Despite it being an era where job-hopping among young people is not uncommon, this survey revealed an unexpected situation where Japanese-style employment is increasingly preferred among new employees. Previously, job selection was heavily influenced by what respondents wanted to do, including the content of the positions, but "there may be an increasing trend of people choosing jobs more rationally as a means to enhance their private lives," according to the representative.
In fact, the survey's "important factors when choosing an employer," with multiple answers allowed, also reflected this rational inclination: "job content" (24.1%) and "job type" (9.5%) have been on the decline, while aspects related to treatment, such as the "benefit package" (56.4%) and "salary level" (42.8%), have been increasing.