This is one of the most positive headlines I've read in recent years — "Young Japanese warming to idea of switching jobs as employment prospects grow" — in the June 4 edition. It means that younger Japanese are no longer content to be factory drones, to passively accept "cradle to grave" job security in exchange for what amounts to a lifetime of mindless obedience and subservience, constantly bowing to the authority of senior management, no matter how vulgar and ignorant such management might be.
Younger Japanese are often far more aware of advances in technology and innovations in a great many industries, unlike their dinosaur bosses. Back in the late stages of the old Industrial Revolution things didn't change as fast, a snail's pace in some cases, but now the world can see advances in every major science or engineering field in just a year or two.
Anyone over the age of 50 simply doesn't understand and should get out of the way, letting the younger minds manage things. When artificial intelligence really takes off, and it will, then even the younger engineers will be unable to keep up with the changes. Frightful. Smart young guys and gals will start their own companies and to hell with the aging dinosaurs who want simply to assert their shallow authority.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
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