商业报道

　　Japan's hiring practices

　　日本招聘

　　Hello world

　　世界，你好

　　Japanese firms are waking up to the merits of hiring globe-trotting recruits

　　日本开始意识到全球范围内雇佣人才的好处了

　　RYOSUKE KOBAYASHI is the only Japanese undergraduate in his year at Harvard University.

　　Ryosuke Kobayashi 是哈佛那一届唯一的的日本本科生。

　　When he applied, he knew no one who could advise him on how to get in.

　　当他提交申请的时候，没人给他提供指导意见。

　　So this week, in a rickety wooden inn in Tokyo, sitting cross-legged on tatami mats with Apple Macs on their laps, he and fellow Harvard students conducted seminars for Japanese high-school students on subjects ranging from anime to Thomas Hobbes.

　　因此这个星期，在东京一间不稳固的木屋酒店里，他和几位哈佛同学盘腿坐在榻榻米上，腿上放着苹果Macs笔记本电脑，为日本高中生举办了一个研讨会，从日本动画谈到托马斯 霍布斯。

　　He was not encouraging students to go to America, he insists, just offering them an alternative to uchimuki, or the culture of looking inward, which pervades Japan.

　　他并不是怂恿学生去美国上学，他坚称道，而是给他们提供uchimuki——或者说，日本盛行的内向型文化—以外的另一种选择。

　　For example, in 1997 there were roughly equal numbers of Japanese, Korean and Chinese students at Harvard, including postgraduates.

　　比如，在1997年，哈佛的日本、韩国、中国的学生几乎一样多，

　　Now there are five times as many Chinese as Japanese, and three times as many Koreans.

　　但现在，中国学生是日本学生的五倍，是韩国学生的三倍。

　　The story is similar at other foreign universities.

　　其它国家的大学也一样。

　　Meanwhile, Japanese firms have lost ground to their Chinese and South Korean rivals.

　　同时，日本企业也被中国和韩国企业比下去了。

　　Some say this is no coincidence.

　　有人说这不是巧合。

　　Yasuyuki Nambu, the boss of Pasona, a Tokyo-based recruitment consultancy, says Japanese universities churn out students for old-fashioned businesses, rather than fast-growing global ones such as IT and retail.

　　Pasona的老总Yasuyuki Nambu认为日本大学培养出大量从事过时行业的学生，而不是从事全球性的增长势头强大的行业，比如IT或者零售。

　　Japan Inc needs more creative thinkers and linguists. So several firms are courting young Japanese who have been abroad.

　　日本公司需要更多有创见的思想家和语言家。因此几大企业正觊觎着留学归来的日本学生。

　　Jobs fairs for those who have studied abroad are suddenly popular.

　　所以，针对那些曾出国留学的工作招聘会突然流行起来了。

　　Mynavi, the sponsor of one, says the number of participating firms soared by almost 50% since last year, to 188.

　　主办人之一Mynavi说从去年开始，参与的企业数量增长了近50%，达到188家。

　　Keidanren, Japan's big-business lobby, has promised to hold a special jobs exchange for students returning from abroad next summer, tacitly admitting that Japan's traditional hiring schedule hobbles them:

　　Keidanren，日本经济团体联合会，已经承诺明年夏天为海归派特别举办一个工作交流会，并默认了日本传统的招聘方式阻碍他们前途了：

　　people are recruited in Japan to start work in April, which is during the academic year in America and Europe.

　　被聘用的人四月份才开始工作，那时正是欧美的开学节。

　　The University of Tokyo, Japan's best, is mulling starting in September instead, to fit in with the rest of the world.

　　日本最好的大学，东京大学，正考虑加入世界大家庭，也换成九月份开学。

　　In other countries there has long been a market for footloose talent.

　　其它国家自由流动的人才一直都有市场。

　　But in Japan students usually have just one shot at securing a steady first-time job: in their third year at university.

　　但在日本，通常学生只有一次机会谋求第一份稳定的工作，即大学三年级的时候。

　　If they are abroad, they miss it, and may have to study an extra year in Japan to earn their chance.

　　如果他们出国留学了，他们将失去这个机会，并且可能要在日本再上一年学才可以得到第二次机会。

　　That has discouraged people from studying abroad.

　　这就降低了人们出国留学的的欲望。

　　And corporate culture in Japan has tended to favour those who follow the rules: training is done “on-the-job”, which implies little respect for what was learned at college.

　　此外，日本的企业文化业也青睐于那些按规矩办事的人：训练是在工作中完成的，这就意味着他们不大尊重大学期间学到的知识。

　　Pasona reckons the change has accelerated since March, when Japan was hit by an earthquake that disrupted the nation's supply chains and power plants.

　　Pasona估计三月份开始——日本遭遇的地震扰乱了国家供应链，破坏了发电厂——变化更加明显了。

　　The population is ageing and shrinking; to avoid shrinking with it, Japanese firms must expand overseas. Recent months have seen a surge of foreign mergers and acquisitions.

　　日本人口更趋老龄化了，并逐年减少。为了避免跟着一起衰落，日本企业必须从海外扩张。最近几个月日本的海外并购更多了。

　　But while hiring trends may have started to reflect this shift, corporate culture has not.

　　聘用趋势可能开始发生变化，但企业文化却毫无改变的迹象。

　　Hierarchy and pay remain rigid in many Japanese firms–you do what you are told and get what you are given.

　　日本企业依旧存在严格的等级制度以及支付传统—做好分内之事，然后领工资。

　　Well-travelled recruits may not like this. And if they don't, they can go elsewhere.

　　而见多识广的新人可能不吃这一套。如果他们不接受，那自有其它地方可去。