Is there a custom of salarymen being forced to change jobs?

[Chris_Raymond]

Hi,
My Japanese friend is a 53 year old banker with a major Japanese bank and he told me that all his colleagues of the same age in the company are being forced to change jobs (he said change companies, but that does not sound right). Has anybody heard of this custom before?
He said he did not want to change jobs, but that he had no choice. I think he still gets to be at the same level and paid the same.

Regards,
Chris

[JonB]

It is quite common for salarymen to change branches every so often and normally around this time of year.

We've had a number of people resign over the years because their partner has been posted off to the other end of Japan. When the children are of school age it is often common for the family to stay behind so as not to disrupt schooling.

And they want to know how to encourage family values and get the population increasing....

[Chris_Raymond]

JonB,
Thanks for the answer. I live in Australia, so I don't know many Japanese people. It seems strange to transfer a whole cohort of senior people in the company to jobs they don't really want to go to. Is this because they are making way for a younger cohort?

Regards,
Chris

[markystar]

american companies (and i'm assuming other western companies) hire people to be specialists - that is to say, you generally work in one field. but japanese companies generalize. i think they traditional held the logic that you move around the company and learn everything about the company, the intended goal is that anyone in the company could eventually become 社長 (company president). it seems to be changing these days, but many companies still do it and force you to change departments and so on.

[Chris_Raymond]

Marky,
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I had heard that Japanese salarymen are taken on as generalists and I thought that they were moved around when they were young to get experience and to find their speciality. However I assumed that it ceased when they were senior and had found their niche/specialty within the company.

Regards,
Chris.
PS. Must be fun living in Edo castle.