Strategy of “Employment Category Abolition”

: Background, Driving Factors, and Effects

Abstract

In September 2017, the Credit Saison Co., Ltd. introduced the “Personnel system common to all employees.” It was a groundbreaking personnel system reform that eliminated the conventional employment categories of “general employee”, “professional employee”, and “mate employee”. This article examines the reasons why the personnel strategy of employment category abolition was possible, along with the challenges to be faced, focusing on the background, the driving factors, and the effects of the systemic reform. The analysis pays close attention to the new norms that have been shared between management and workers. First, the author analyzes background factors, including changes in the business environment and in the business profit structure. Next, the author sheds light on driving factors, particularly the process of accumulation of experience in nurturing new norms. Finally, regarding the effects of the reform, the author focuses on the employees’ reactions. Based on the above analyses, the paper examines the meaning of “employment category abolition,” and the subsequent problems to be faced.