Japan Inc has been giving the shaft to young people with regards to permanent worker status for about 25 years now. The conditions are such that the social contract that some/many older Japanese believe exist is distinctly a part of history for a lot of young Japanese. This has, imho, created a lot of challenges related to social stability and the economic aspects related to social stability (e.g., housing trends, marriage, having children, education, etc.).
As such, I hope that this is the beginning of a long upward trend in increasing the proportion of permanent workers. It will likely be very good for Japan in the long run if it can be sustained.
I will be interested to see what happens during the big worldwide economic downturn.
I hope going forward humans are realizing that we don't need things, we need social systems which function. That's much more important that the latest doodad or car. It's more important to have good functioning social systems which support the masses and allow them to have some sense of a life... rather than being treated like one night stand employment agreements that we have today... and being in a constant state of being used and under-appreciated.
As such, I hope that this is the beginning of a long upward trend in increasing the proportion of permanent workers. It will likely be very good for Japan in the long run if it can be sustained.
I will be interested to see what happens during the big worldwide economic downturn.