White-Collar Workers in Japan and the United States: Which Are More Ability Oriented?

Although there is much that needs to wait for future research because of the present lack of data, let us summarize the results of the examination so far. To begin with, diversity in the United States draws our attention. It seems that, instead of a convergence into a single approach, coexistence and competition among various approaches seem to be present. This is reflected in the "vertical classification" of white-collar workers' careers. They belong to the "rapid promotion approach," in contrast with present-day Japan. However, among the approaches, the mainstream is the one that selects a considerable number of upperand middle-manager candidates at a relatively late time of three to five years after initial hire. These approaches are different from those in France, Britain, and Japan with regard to the selection of high-grade public servants, in which only a limited number of executive candidates are designated through a tough examination at the point of new hire. However, there are also approaches that screen to some degree at the time of new hire through academic credentials such as the MBA degree. The current use of these approaches may be expected to grow. There are still many approaches in which the performance of the worker is tracked after hire. But what will happen in the future?