日本充分就业为何未让雇员受益

2014-09-24 18:18:46来源：可可英语

　　Japanese wages do not seem to be responding to normal market pressures. Why not? Theconundrum has its roots in the altered structure of the labour market. Contrary to commonperception, Japan has an exceptionally flexible workforce. Outside the ranks of theprotected “job-for-lifers” – a much rarer breed these days – nearly 40 per cent of workers areabout as flexible as you get. They work in poorly paid jobs for hourly rates. Benefits are all butnon-existent. For most of these workers, sometimes referred to as the “precariat”,unemployment is a mere “sayonara” away.

　　日本薪资似乎不会对一般的市场压力做出回应。为什么呢?这一难题植根于劳动力市场的结构变化。与普遍看法相反，日本的劳动力大军特别灵活。除了受到保护的终身工作者(这在当今已是相当罕见了)，近40%的劳动者都非常灵活。他们从事薪资较低的工作，领取时薪。福利几乎不存在。对于多数此类劳动者(有时被称为无产阶级)而言，失业近在咫尺。

　　Of course, Japan is hardly alone in seeing the bifurcation of its jobs market. Non- or semi-skilled work commands a lower price in a world where technology and cheap foreign labour areready substitutes. In Japan, though, this is proving a particularly thorny problem. For itsreflationary experiment to work, wages must begin to rise in line with inflation. But thecasualisation of the labour force is short-circuiting that process. Moreover, people in theprecariat are less likely to marry and have children. If Japan is to solve its demographicproblem, it will have to tackle the labour issue.

　　当然，日本很难说是唯一一个就业市场出现这种两极分化的国家。在技术和外国廉价劳动力随时可充当替补的情况下，从事非技术或半技术工作所能要求的薪资自然较低。然而在日本，事实证明这是一个尤其棘手的问题。要让通货再膨胀发生作用，薪资必须开始与通胀同步上涨。但劳动力中的散工现象正在让这个过程短路。另外，属于无产阶级的人们更不可能结婚和生育子女。如果日本要解决其人口问题，它必须解决这个劳动力问题。

　　What can be done? At least three things. The first is to narrow the gap between over-protectedpermanent workers and under-protected non-permanent ones. Akira Kawamoto of KeioUniversity argues that coddling one section of the workforce does not serve Japan’s interestswell. Absolute job security stifles risk-taking, he says, something that Japan desperatelyneeds. Simply making life less cushy for permanent workers is not likely to do any good on itsown.

　　日本可以采取何种措施?至少有3项措施。首先是缩窄受到过度保护的固定员工和没有得到充分保护的非固定员工之间的差距。庆应义塾大学(Keio University)的川本明(Akira Kawamoto)指出，娇惯某一部分劳动者不太符合日本的利益。他表示，绝对的就业安全会扼杀冒险行为，而这种冒险是日本现在亟需的。但仅仅让固定员工的生活变得不那么安逸，可能不会带来任何好处。

　　If adding to Japan’s aggregate demand is the goal, the big push should be on improving thewages and conditions of temporary workers. Crucially, it should be made far easier for them tomigrate to permanent jobs and for workers of all descriptions to move more freely betweencompanies. An open, fluid labour market would help cross-fertilise ideas and allocate resourcesto productive parts of the economy.

　　如果扩大日本总需求是目标的话，那么日本应大举改善临时工的薪资和工作条件。重要的是，日本应让他们更容易转入固定工作，并让所有类型的员工更自由地在企业间跳槽。一个开放且流动的劳动力市场将有利于催生更多创意，并将资源配置到具有生产效率的经济领域。

本文关键字: 日本充分就业为何未让雇员受益