ความคิดเห็นที่ 17
But Japan has also experienced a quiet revolution in work attitudes. Many Japanese in their 40s and 50s who sacrificed their lives for stable but grueling corporate jobs don't want their children to do the same. As a result, they're encouraging them to pursue dream jobs -- even seemingly unattainable ones -- and are willing to support them in the process. Compared with the U.S., the pressure on parents to push grown children out of the nest is low in Japan, where families have traditionally housed and financially supported children until marriage.
Young people, too, are tiring of corporate life. A recent study by Japan's Nomura Research Institute of 1,000 full-time company employees in their 20s and 30s found that three-quarters said they felt unmotivated at work. Half said they would quit if given the chance.
"The parents are from an era where you entered a company and stayed there your whole life," says Michiko Miyamoto, a sociologist and a NEET expert. Younger people "are looking for more diversity."
Mr. Isozaki and his mother, Misao, symbolize the generational shift in how they view work. The 52-year-old Ms. Isozaki graduated from college with a degree in child-care and moved to Tokyo from a smaller city nearby to work at a day-care center. She was forced to return home two years later to help her family business. Shortly afterward, she became a stay-at-home mother after marrying Mr. Isozaki's father, a busy employee for a machinery maker who was rarely home when his children were growing up.
Ms. Isozaki, disappointed in her own curtailed career and her husband's all-consuming career, was determined to allow her children to pursue their dream jobs. Her daughter, Manami, 24, who longed to become a musician, fulfilled her goals, becoming a professional pianist after years of lessons and music school. But her son, Yuta, never found that drive -- something that baffles Ms. Isozaki. She has tried to brainstorm on his behalf, suggesting, for example, that he become a baker since he likes to eat bread, but to no avail.
"He won't come up with something and pursue it," says Ms. Isozaki, who has a round face and a sweet voice. "He thinks too much. He can't make a decision."
Ms. Isozaki became worried about Yuta after he quit school and withdrew from other members of the family. Frustrated, she tried to motivate her son by putting him in charge of caring for the family's two dogs. Worried that he might be depressed, she took him to a doctor, who said he was fine. As a last resort, she took him to a nonprofit support group called Sodate Age Net, or "Bringing Up Network," that tries to help NEETs enter working society.
Kei Kudo, the organization's 28-year-old founder, says many NEETs become stymied by the notion that they have to somehow come up with their dream job. With the mantra "work first, think later," he tries to open NEETs' eyes by telling them that there are about 30,000 different types of jobs in Japan, so the chance of stumbling upon that one perfect profession is about as likely as winning the lottery.
"Dreams are for when you're asleep" Mr. Kudo says. "When you're awake, you have to think about reality." His strategy: Get them to figure out what they absolutely don't like, then pick a job from what's left.
Mr. Kudo -- who is about the same age as many of his programs' participants -- says he can sympathize with NEETs because he himself dropped out of college in Japan. He then moved to the U.S., where he studied at a community college in Washington state and was accepted as a transfer student at the University of Washington. Just before enrolling however, a British friend told him about England's youth unemployment problem. Realizing that Japan might eventually face something similar, he decided to return home to do something about it.
Mr. Kudo, whose father also runs an organization to help troubled youth, used his connections and public-speaking skills to drum up support for his idea. After two years of planning, he accepted his first participants in September 2004. Now, he works 14-hour days in the organization's small office in the suburbs of Tokyo, dispatching participants on jobs ranging from elderly care to archeological digs in hopes of building their confidence and helping to narrow their choices.
A Confidence Boost
The ultimate goal is for participants to find a permanent job on their own -- something 20 out of 40 have done so far. Yuichi Murata, a 29-year-old with a bowl haircut, is nearing this point, having recently found a one-month position with a railway company helping to seat passengers during the holiday season.
Mr. Murata arrived at Sodate Age Net about a year ago, sent by his father who was frustrated that his son hadn't worked for six years. His one work experience was a part-time job at a convenience store, which Mr. Murata says he quit after a falling out with his co-workers. He also spent four months studying for a certificate to do computer-related work, but failed the final test.
Mr. Murata says his confidence level at that point was near zero. Mr. Kudo put him in charge of a janitorial crew made up of other participants. The chance to direct others gave Mr. Murata a real boost. "Before, I thought that I couldn't do anything, and I didn't know what to do" he says. "Now, I just want to keep working."
Getting to that point takes time. Mr. Isozaki has spent a year in Sodate Age Net's program but has :-) to find a job that will allow him to go off on his own. His mother worries that he's getting too comfortable, and she's considering giving him a deadline for finding a job. When asked about a date, though, she hesitates.
"By the end of the year," she says tentatively. "Or maybe in March."
Mr. Isozaki, for his part, concedes that some people might see him as lazy, and he says he knows he needs to find permanent work eventually. He adds, however, that he simply needs more time to experiment -- something he's never had a chance to do. "In high school, all you do is study," he says. "When I actually thought about working, I realized that I didn't know what kind of work I wanted to do."
Write to Ginny Parker Woods at ginny.parker@wsj.com
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