CAREER & COLLEGE

People say now in Japan there are one and half a million freeters. Do you know what the freeter means? You may not be very familiar with the word. So in our presentation, we’d like to think mainly about the freeter.

(What the”freeter” means?)

Do you know the origin of the word “freeter”?

Part of the word is free. Yes, it means “free”in English. And part of the word is ter. It comes from Arbeiter, which means “worker” in German.

So the word freeter is not English nor German.

(Which language is “freeter”?)

The word freeter is used only in Japan, and it is rather a new born word in Japan.

“Freeter” is close in meaning to the English Temporary Worker.

Freeter is used only in Japan, but it has changed its meaning in the past ten years. About ten years ago Freeter is used only for a person who does a part time job as a means to reach his goal. But now it is used also for a person who does a part time job for no special reason.

(The reality of Freeter)

　Now I’d like to analyze different types of freeters.

According to the survey in July 2000 by Japan Institute of Labor, there are three major types of freeters.

No.1. Young people tend to be freeters, because they have no idea what they would like to be in the future. They are called “Moratorium Type”. Moratorium is a way of life among young people. In this way of life, they do not get ready to go into society as responsible adults.

No.2. Young people choose to be freeters, because they want to make their dreams come true or reach their goals. Let’s call them “Dream Seeker Type”.

No.3. Young people become freeters with no wish of their own.

People become freeters because of failing in job hunting or making money for school fees. So they have no other choices, and they are named “Can’t-Help Type”.

Now let me ask you a question. Among these three types of freeters, what type do you think is the biggest in number?

No. 1 Moratorium Type

No. 2 Dream Seeker Type

No.3 Can’t-Help Type

Which do you think is the biggest in number?

……..

OK. The answer is, yes, Moratorium Type. Congratulations on you if you have chosen Moratorium Type. You’re great, you’re bright, you’re superb!

Now let’s look at the date in some details.

According to the survey with 97 freeters by the Japan Institute of Labor, Moratorium Type is Number 1 39.2 %. It is followed by Can’t-Help Type and then by Dream Seeker Type.

What surprised me is that there are so many freeters of Can’t-Help Type. Does this mean that now in Japan the economy is so bad that young people cannot get jobs? I suppose that structural changes explain this unhappy situation in Japan.

In the past Japanese companies did On the Job Training and could develop the abilities of young people after they are employed. This means not only developing the specialized skills and knowledge but also communication skills and common sense. So the young people were expected just to study at school.

But after the bubble economy burst out, Japanese companies have stopped On the Job Training and become very strict in selecting their young workers. They do not hire young people of no abilities any people. And as a result , some of those young people cannot help ending up as freeters.

Of course some freeters of this type have developed their skills and expertise by themselves and become very abled.

Now the employment system in Japan has drastically changed and produced so many part time workers, temporary workers, or irregular workers. Now Japan cannot survive without those part time workers.

（間をおく)

The most outstanding merits are Easy to Take Holidays and Flexible Time, which value private time. So you can go on a long trip if you are freeters.

There are many other merits as you see on the chart. From these merits, it seems that freeters want to be free from responsibilities, from troublesome work and from what they don’t like to do.

OK. Now let’s consider the demerits of being freeters.

Ranked top are demerits of fear for the future such as no

Pansions Insurance and Unstable Income. Some people say freeters are working force .

Japanese companies can easily throw them away.

Now I’d like to compare the incomes of freeters and full time workers.

As you see on the slide, as for the freeters, their average payment by the hour is 856 yen and the average monthly payment is about 138,000 yen.

On the other hand, full time workers earn 1,025 yen per hour and

about 170,000 yen every month. Obviously full time workers are better payed.

But If you add the time of full time workers when they work overtime or socialize with their fellow workers, they spend as long as 12 hours per day for their companies.

Suppose they work 12 hours for three days out of five working days, how much do you think their payment by the hour will be like? What a surprise! It goes down to 832 yen!

Here is the comparison of working conditions between freeters

and full time workers. I’d like to hear your opinion?

This graph shows the age distribution of freeters between 18 and 29 under. The average age is 23.4 years old. And as you see, there are two high distributions; one at the age of 20 and the other at 25. This tells us that one become freeters after leaving or graduating from school, and the other become freeters after leaving companies.

So don’t you think it’s interesting to know what college students think of

freeters and their future after school?

We gave a questionnaire to 150 students, freshmen at our university, Utsunomiya University.

This is the result.

Main reasons of those students who support the idea of freeters are:

because of the bad economy you can’t help it,

freeters can have a variety of social experiences,

it’s up to the person to decide whether to be a freeter or not.

Main reasons of I Don’t Support are:

I don’t want to a freeter myself,

Freeters are not a secure way of life for the future,

It’s a way of life without responsibility, just easygoing.

The dominant reason of “ I Don’t Know “is I Haven’t Think About It.

At this result we were surprised. There were much more

students than we expected who support the idea of freeters.

They are more positive

about freeters than elderly people who have bad images of

freeters.

The elderly people had no such word as freeter when they were young went to work about 30 years ago. Their employment

system was lifelong and they took it for granted to become a full

time worker.

However after the bubble economy burst out, Japan now is at

very, very bad time, worse than ever. So a large number of

students face very severe situations of a jobless society.

This explains why they think they cannot help it.

Here is reflected the typical way of thinking for young people

now. That is, Personal Freedom is the Most Important.

This is the result of the question What is Your Plan after School.

This is the result of the question What If You Cannot Get a Job You Wanted.

I think you remember that 39 % of the students support the idea of freeters, but it’s only 14 % of them who choose to be freeters if they cannot get a job they want.