Abstract

Tenshoku means changing jobs: quitting one’s company and starting work in a new company. Under the lifetime employment system, regular workers have enjoyed the security and stability provided by corporations, and tenshoku used to be rare among regular workers. In the decades after the Japanese economic bubble burst in 1991, tenshoku has become a more common practice in Japan. However, even now, young people’s job-changing behavior is often regarded negatively. What young workers inside the prestigious lifetime employment system think of tenshoku remains underexamined. This qualitative study uses young regular workers’ experiences of tenshoku as a lens to investigate their values. Overall, instead of relying steadfastly on their employers, I find in this study that young workers are actively utilizing tenshoku for better working lives: it is an option that supports their subjective well-being.

摘要

天色的意思是换工作：辞掉原来的公司，到新公司工作。在终身雇佣制下，正式工人享受到了企业提供的保障和稳定，而天职在正式工人中曾经是凤毛麟角。1991年日本经济泡沫破灭后的几十年里，天食在日本已成为一种更普遍的做法。然而，即使是现在，年轻人跳槽的行为也常常被负面看待。久负盛名的终身雇佣制度中的年轻工人对天职的看法仍未得到充分检验。这项定性研究利用了年轻正式工人的天食经验作为考察他们价值观的镜头。总的来说，我在这项研究中发现，年轻工人并没有坚定地依赖雇主，而是积极利用天食来改善工作生活：这是支持他们主观幸福感的一种选择。