Keidanren calls for new words for hiring experienced workers

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:00 JST, November 7, 2022

The Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) is deploying vocabulary in the cause of economic revitalization.

In reference to the hiring of employees other than new graduates, the group has decided to call on its member companies to uniformly replace the term “chuto saiyo” (recruitment of mid-career workers) with “keikensha saiyo” (recruitment of experienced workers).

The federation is aiming to avoid the negative connotations that the word “chuto” (mid-career) has in Japanese and to stimulate the economy by encouraging labor mobility.

The policy has been included in the draft of its Report of the Committee on Management and Labor Policy, which outlines the management side’s policy for shunto labor-management wage negotiations in spring. The new term will be standardized in documents and surveys compiled by the federation intended for its member companies. The federation will also encourage member companies to use the new term in their recruiting activities.

Companies are diversifying their hiring methods, such as “job-type hiring,” in which employers clearly define the duties of recruits when announcing vacancies. The federation is also promoting such forms of recruiting as “comeback hiring” and “alumni hiring,” in which former employees are hired again, and “referral hiring,” in which employees introduce their friends and acquaintances.

Despite the federation’s efforts, it cannot be predicted whether the new term will take root among the public. For example, the federation stopped its use of “shunto” (spring labor wage negotiations) in the 2000s and introduced a new term. However, the use of the new term has been limited.

The promotion of the new term for hiring experienced workers will be a test for the federation regarding its influence over its member companies and the public as a whole.