News New Japanese employees favour seniority-based over merit-based promotions

[thomas]

A recent survey by Sanno University's Institute of Management found that new hires in Japan favour seniority-based promotion over performance-based systems for the first time since the study adopted its current format in 2006. The shift reflects a growing preference among young workers for stable, long-term employment where they can steadily gain experience, rather than engaging in competitive work environments.

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.

Forward march into the past:

• 69.4% of respondents want lifetime employment (終身雇用).
• 89.2% wish to remain with the same company in the long term.
• Preferences for "job content" as a factor in choosing an employer: 24.1% (declining).
• Preferences for "job type": 9.5% (declining).
• Preferences for "benefit package": 56.4% (increasing).
• Preferences for "salary level": 42.8% (increasing).

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

TOKYO -- A Japanese university survey on new hires in fiscal 2025 has revealed a preference for promotion by seniority over a performance-based system

mainichi.jp