vol.103 Japan's 'Lost Generation': How Did They Survive the Employment Ice Age?
98.1% is the employment rate for 2024 undergraduate graduates in Japan, as recently released. During the same period, the average monthly wage for ordinary workers in Japan was 330,000 yen (approximately 15,000 RMB), also hitting a new high since 1976. As if overnight, Japan ended the 'Employment Ice Age' and entered an era of 'reverse selection by job seekers', even seeing multiple HR departments competing for job applicants. The 'Employment Ice Age' originated after the burst of the bubble economy. In 1991, Japan's asset price bubble peaked and then burst, after which the national economy fell into a long-term slump, and household balance sheets continued to deteriorate.