_____________________________________________________________________
High Quality Made-In-China Products Supported by Japanese Engineers
2010/11/23
China is now the second largest economy in the world and their export has been expanding.
Many jobs around the developed countries are going to China and so are jobs in Japan.
In this trend, many of Japanese engineers have been fired because of restructurings
taken by Japan's companies. It can be said that their jobs are transferred to China. However,
ironically, those who were fired seem to try to find a job in China.
An article of Japanese magazine, DIAMOND. Inc., reported it. Here is the rough summary of
the article:
Where Are Japan's Brains Going?
Mr. A who worked for a major electronics manufacturer in Japan was about to take a final
interview for an electronics manufacturer in China. He decided to apply for the company with
no other choice.
Mr. A who was the manager of product planning quit his company in Japan accepting the
early retirement.
"Of course, I wanted to choose a company in Japan if possible. However, one year has passed
since my retirement and I have been rejected by companies in Japan mostly..." said Mr. A.
Since then, he had no choice but to find a place to work overseas, China.
Layoff by manufacturers in Japan giving great opportunities to China
An electronics manufacturer in China, Haier, emphasizes its high quality with the selling
point, "made by Japanese" for their new products.
There was a notable fact that after Lehman's fall, major electronics manufacturers started
to take actions of early retirement to fire a lot of full-time workers since last year (2009).
Those who were mainly targeted to be fired were engineers in the fields of semiconductor,
flat-screen TV, home appliances and were lost in global competitions.
Mr. A had been managing hit products such as CD player and plasma TV for 30 years in a major
electronics company, but he had to leave the company because his department was closed. He is 51
years old and one of his sons is still an elementary school kid. In addition, he has a house loan.
Under these circumstances, he had no choice but to provide his know-hows which he raised over 30
years to a Chinese manufacturer.
Only Top Engineers - Chinese Manufacturers' Way to Go
There is a recruitment company which introduces Japanese engineers directly to major electronics
manufacturer. Requirements from China side have been getting severer year by year, and it is said that
China manufacturers have started not to be interested in those who are not top level engineers. Time
has changed.
A man in the recruitment company said, "Japanese people are sweet (thinkers). They tend to think
that they can find a good job if they go to China. This is a story around 5 to 6 years ago. "
Moreover, most of those who are fortunately hired after a tough selection process can just get
a contract of 1 year which may be renewed every year.
A person in a recruitment company in China said, "The salary for Japanese engineers is around
5 - 6 times higher than that of Chinese engineers. So, if Japanese engineers cannot produce values
such as new technologies or experiences, their contracts will not be renewed. This mostly happens."
Oh, that's why the quality of made-in-China products seems to have been improving gradually.
This will be dangerous. Many of Made-in-China products will reach an acceptable standard in developed
countries. So, domestic economy in each country will be damaged because of the massive loss of jobs
(already happening, right?).
In addition, economy in developed countries can no more recover like before because many of routine
jobs can never come back to the developed countries. So, unemployment rate must keep high.
In Japan, real unemployment rate must be much higher that that announced officially by government
because of their way used to calculate the number. Vividly, the employment rate for students expected
to graduate from universities next spring was 57.6%, lowest ever.
Japanese Yen seems to be ready to go weak next year or so.
_____________________________________________________________________