世論 What Japan Thinks

Most university graduates start work in Japan on or around the first of April, so this survey from Macromill Inc interviewed the fresh faces who had been at their companies for just over a month to learn about then new members of society’s opinions.

Demographics

On the 12th and 13th of May 2009 516 members of the Macromill monitor group who were born in 1986 or 1987 and had found a job completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female.

Wow, there’s a lot of very good information in this survey, and I could easily spend the next day or two drawing conclusions! Note in Q3SQ2 the points of dissatisfaction for women, suggesting that even after just a month in the job, gender discrimination is already obvious to them. On the other hand, in Q5 one in eight women plan to quit when they get married, and then another quarter after they have a baby.

In Q7, I hate drinking sessions at work and would probably choose all the reasons listed, except that it’s talking shop all the time that irritates me, not not talking shop as asked!

Research results

Q1: What were the final deciding points for choosing your place of work? (Sample size=516, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=258	Female N=258
Details of work	59.1%	58.1%	60.1%
Type of work	50.4%	48.4%	52.3%
Work style, atmosphere	46.9%	41.5%	52.3%
Benefits	33.7%	32.6%	34.9%
Salary	31.6%	29.8%	33.3%
Job security	23.3%	22.5%	24.0%
Attracted by people working there	22.1%	15.9%	28.3%
Future possibilities, personal growth potential	20.9%	20.5%	21.3%
Convenient for commuting	19.2%	18.2%	20.2%
Famous company, organisation, product name	17.6%	14.0%	21.3%
Company, organisation ideals, vision	12.8%	13.2%	12.4%
Because I didn’t get my first choice job	12.0%	11.6%	12.4%
There weren’t any other suitable jobs	11.6%	9.7%	13.6%
Was recommended by family	7.4%	4.3%	10.5%
Was recommended by school, teacher	6.4%	4.7%	8.1%
Attracted by directors	2.9%	2.3%	3.5%
Other	3.5%	2.3%	4.7%

Q2: Which rank of choice was your current workplace? (Sample size=516)

	All	Male N=258	Female N=258
First choice	48.8%	47.3%	50.4%
Second choice	22.7%	25.2%	20.2%
Third choice	9.3%	10.1%	8.5%
Fourth or more choice	19.2%	17.4%	20.9%

Q3: How satisfied are you with your current place of work? (Sample size=516)

	Satisfied (to SQ1)	Somewhat satisfied (to SQ1)	Can’t say either way	Somewhat dissatisfied (to SQ2)	Dissatisfied (to SQ2)
All	24.4%	45.3%	18.6%	8.5%	3.1%

Job choice rank from Q2

	Satisfied (to SQ1)	Somewhat satisfied (to SQ1)	Can’t say either way	Somewhat dissatisfied (to SQ2)	Dissatisfied (to SQ2)
1st choice N=252	33.3%	44.4%	15.1%	4.8%	2.4%
2nd choice N=117	17.9%	53.0%	19.7%	9.4%	0.0%
3rd choice N=48	14.6%	47.9%	27.1%	6.3%	4.2%
4th or less N=99	14.1%	37.4%	22.2%	18.2%	8.1%

Number of employees

	Satisfied (to SQ1)	Somewhat satisfied (to SQ1)	Can’t say either way	Somewhat dissatisfied (to SQ2)	Dissatisfied (to SQ2)
Less than 100 N=191	18.8%	38.6%	23.8%	12.9%	5.9%
100 to 999 N=206	20.9%	50.0%	19.4%	6.3%	3.4%
1,000 or more N=209	30.6%	44.0%	15.3%	8.6%	1.4%

Q3SQ1: Why are you satisfied? (Sample size=360, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=181	Female N=179
Get on well with the people at work	60.0%	53.6%	66.5%
Atmosphere at work suits me	52.8%	51.4%	54.2%
Good fringe benefits	35.3%	34.8%	35.8%
Good location	35.0%	32.0%	38.0%
Satisfactory contents of training course	35.0%	35.4%	34.6%
Can do the work I want to do	30.0%	30.4%	29.6%
Good salary	24.7%	29.3%	20.1%
Company performance is secure	24.2%	26.0%	22.3%
Can improve my skill, further my career	24.2%	26.0%	22.3%
Little overtime	22.8%	19.9%	25.7%
Easy to take paid holidays	18.1%	16.0%	20.1%
Good office environment	14.4%	12.7%	16.2%
Can expect promotion	9.7%	12.2%	7.3%
Other	1.7%	1.7%	1.7%

Q3SQ2: Why are you dissatisfied? (Sample size=60, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=30	Female N=30
Low pay	51.7%	43.3%	60.0%
Lots of overtime	48.3%	50.0%	46.7%
Cannot expect promotion	31.7%	20.0%	43.3%
People at work are difficult to get on with	30.0%	36.7%	23.3%
Unsatisfactory contents of training course	30.0%	33.3%	26.7%
Atmosphere at work doesn’t suit me	28.3%	26.7%	30.0%
Can’t do the work I want to do	28.3%	20.0%	36.7%
Insufficient fringe benefits	26.7%	16.7%	36.7%
No expectation of improving my skill, furthering my career	23.3%	20.0%	26.7%
Poor office environment	23.3%	20.0%	26.7%
Company performance is poor	21.7%	23.3%	20.0%
Short training period	18.3%	23.3%	13.3%
Difficult to take paid holidays	16.7%	16.7%	16.7%
Inconvenient location	16.7%	10.0%	23.3%
Other	15.0%	20.0%	10.0%

Q4: What worries do you have regarding your current workplace? (Sample size=516, multiple answer)

Whether I can do a good job	51.4%
Whether I can get on well with colleagues	47.5%
Whether I can get the salary I expect	29.5%
Whether I can fit in with the work atmosphere	28.9%
Whether I can evaluated fairly	28.1%
Future prospects for the organisation	22.9%
Whether I can do the work I want to do	22.7%
Will I get laid off	17.4%
Other	3.9%
None in particular	5.8%

This is one question I wanted to see the male/female split for, but it was not provided; instead it was broken down by company preference and size.

Q5: Until when do you most want to continue to work with your current employer? (Sample size=516)

	All	Male N=258	Female N=258
Until retirement age	32.6%	43.4%	21.7%
If I get a good offer I want to change jobs	14.0%	17.8%	10.1%
Until I have children	12.8%	0.0%	25.6%
Until I can stand on my own two feet	9.7%	11.2%	8.1%
Want to change jobs sometime	9.7%	10.1%	9.3%
Want to change jobs as soon as possible	7.0%	7.0%	7.0%
Until I get married	6.2%	0.0%	12.4%
Want to be self-employed, start a company sometime	3.3%	5.8%	0.8%
Other	4.8%	4.7%	5.0%

Q6: What is your ideal boss? (Sample size=516, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=258	Female N=258
Someone I can respect	75.2%	68.6%	81.8%
Someone who is good at directing my work	58.3%	55.8%	60.9%
Someone who holds interpersonal relationships as important	52.9%	48.1%	57.8%
Someone who will correctly evaluate my output at work	52.1%	48.4%	55.8%
When it comes to the crunch, someone I can ask for help	51.7%	43.0%	60.5%
Someone who will listen to me	51.2%	45.3%	57.0%
Someone with leadship	46.9%	43.8%	50.0%
Someone who understands young people’s feelings	34.7%	32.6%	36.8%
Someone with ideals, vision	30.6%	32.2%	29.1%
Someone who delegates	28.7%	31.8%	25.6%
Someone who comes out eating, drinking	18.6%	17.8%	19.4%
Other	1.6%	2.3%	0.8%

Q7: If you were invited out drinking by your boss, senior at work, would you want to go along? (Sample size=516)

	Would attend (to SQ1)	If possible, would attend (to SQ1)	If possible, wouldn’t attend (to SQ2)	Wouldn’t attend (to SQ2)
All	27.7%	54.1%	14.3%	3.9%
Male N=258	27.9%	57.0%	9.7%	5.4%
Female N=258	27.5%	51.2%	19.0%	2.3%

Q7SQ1: Why would you want to attend? (Sample size=422, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=219	Female N=203
Because it will help build interpersonal relationships at work	82.7%	77.2%	88.7%
Because I can hear talk relevant to work	57.3%	56.6%	58.1%
Because I can gather information about work, internal company matters	57.1%	58.0%	56.2%
Because I want to get closer to my boss, seniors	54.7%	48.4%	61.6%
Because I enjoy talking with my boss, seniors	36.5%	30.1%	43.3%
Because I think it is part of work	32.0%	34.7%	29.1%
Because I like drinking parties	29.4%	28.3%	30.5%
Because I’ll be treated to lots of things	14.9%	14.2%	15.8%
Other	0.9%	0.9%	1.0%

Q7SQ2: Why would you not want to attend? (Sample size=94, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=39	Female N=55
Because my private time is important to me	59.6%	61.5%	58.2%
Because I don’t like drinking parties, alcohol	47.9%	46.2%	49.1%
Because I want to save money	42.6%	46.2%	40.0%
Because it’s bothersome talking with my boss, seniors	39.4%	33.3%	43.6%
Because it’s bothersome building interpersonal relationships at work	38.3%	28.2%	45.5%
Because I don’t think it’s related to work	26.6%	25.6%	27.3%
Because I don’t want to get closer to my boss, seniors	11.7%	12.8%	10.9%
Because there will be almost no talk relevant to work	6.4%	5.1%	7.3%
Other	6.4%	2.6%	9.1%

Q8: Excluding living expenses, what did you do with your first pay packet? (Sample size=516, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=258	Female N=258
Gave present to parents	54.5%	50.0%	58.9%
Saved it	52.9%	52.3%	53.5%
Bought clothes, fashion items	36.2%	17.4%	55.0%
Bought commuting suit, tie, bag, etc	15.7%	13.2%	18.2%
Used for travel, visiting parents	12.4%	9.7%	15.1%
Work-related accessories (business card case, diary, etc)	11.0%	11.2%	10.9%
Gave present to girlfriend, boyfriend	10.9%	13.2%	8.5%
Bought home electrical item	9.7%	10.9%	8.5%
Spent on hobby	9.5%	9.7%	9.3%
Bought mobile phone	7.2%	5.4%	8.9%
Repaid loan	6.8%	5.8%	7.8%
Bought computer, peripherals	4.3%	5.8%	2.7%
Invested in shares, etc	3.5%	6.6%	0.4%
Enrolled in school, for qualifications, study	2.5%	1.6%	3.5%
Other	13.6%	10.1%	17.1%

Q9: For each of the following questions, choose which one of the two statements is closer to your way of thinking. (Sample size=516)

	A	Perhaps A	Neither	Perhaps B	B
A. It’s easier being pointed in the right direction B. I’m good at thinking for myself	24.8%	43.4%	13.4%	13.4%	5.0%
A. Failure is scary B.I don’t fear failure	20.0%	44.6%	11.2%	17.4%	6.8%
A. I’d like an ordinary, secure life B. Whether I sink or swim, I want a different life from others	25.0%	38.0%	15.7%	14.1%	7.2%
A. I think long about things then decide B. I decide on first impressions	20.5%	35.9%	17.4%	20.0%	6.2%
A. I want to keep friends from work and private separate B. I want to actively mix work and private friendships	27.9%	24.2%	18.6%	20.3%	8.9%
A. I’m not good at competing with others B. Competition with others spurs me on	14.9%	31.6%	16.3%	24.6%	12.6%
A. “We’re all together” gives peace of mind B. I don’t want to do the same as everyone else	10.7%	34.7%	24.4%	22.1%	8.1%
A. I don’t have any particular speciality B. I have an outstanding speciality	11.8%	31.0%	21.1%	25.8%	10.3%
A. I feel confident with new ideas B. I feel confident with perseverance in honest effort	4.5%	19.2%	20.3%	35.3%	20.7%