Changes in the employment system and future labor policies

38 For quite a few people, talk of changes in the employment system suggests the end of the lifetime employment system, a fall in the number of those self-employed, an increase in the number of part-time workers and other atypical areas of employment, and increased flexibility of employment patterns and mobility in the labor market. To other people, it might suggest the end of Fordism (Supiot Report, 1998) or the “end of work” (Rifkin, 1994). Depending on how far into the future you are looking and on which industrial sector you are focusing, neither the end of Fordism nor the end of work appears likely, as far as the present situation in Japan is concerned. Moreover, there is no move “from employment to self-employment” and the lifetime employment system is not finished. Let us begin with a brief look at some statistical data.