Comprehensive Studies on the Labor Market Policy under the Transformation of Industrial Structure.

自我们的研究项目于1987年开始以来，我们一直在寻求设计一个适当的未来社会政策，不仅可以为公司提供更有效的人力资源管理系统，而且可以为工人自己提供一个更令人满意和更具挑战性的工作环境。从我们的研究结果中，我们得出结论，要实现上述未来的社会政策，政府的长期政策制定应该有两个指导方针。“信息网络社会”是社会政策的基本条件。为了清楚地理解我们社会正在经历的产业结构调整的意义，我们必须将正在出现的新阶段定义为“信息网络社会”。我们研究的许多定量数据表明，个人与企业之间的关系正在发生巨大变化。例如，我们研究小组的一名成员强调，在即将到来的“信息网络社会”中，蓝领和白领工人都将能够更加自主地工作，不受管理层的控制。我们必须改变以“工业社会”经验为基础的传统社会政策哲学。从标准化到多元化在工业社会，社会政策的关键词是“标准化”。然而，在未来的社会政策中，多元化的做法将变得更加重要。正如我们的研究结果所显示的，许多类型的新工人正在参与当代日本的劳动力市场。老年工人、年轻的“飞特族”和外国人的数量正在增加。另一方面，雇主们正试图开发新的工作系统，如卫星办公室和远程办公系统。这些新型劳动者对社会政策的期望不尽相同。

Since our research project started in 1987, we have always been seeking to design an adequate future social policy which makes possible not only a more efficient human resource management system for the part of the companies, but a more satisfying and challenging working environment for the part of the workers themselves.From our research findings we concluded that there should be two guidelines for the longterm governmental policy making to realize the above mentioned future social policy.1. 'Information Network Society' as a Fundamental Condition of the Social Policy. In order to understand clearly the meaning of the industrial restructuring which we are now experiencing in our society, we must define the emerging new stage as an 'information network society'. Many quantitative data of our research show that the relation between individuals and firms are now changing drastically. For example, a member of our research group emphasizes that both blue and white collar workers will be able to work more autonomously from the management control in the coming 'information network society'. We must change the traditional philosophies of social policy which are based on the experiences of 'industrial society'.2. From the Standardization to the Pluralistic Approach In the industrial society key word of the social policy was 'standardization'. In the future social policy, however, pluralistic approach would become more important. As our research findings show, many types of new workers are participating in contemporary Japanese labor market. The number of aging workers, young 'freeters', and foreign nationals are growing. On the other hand, employers are now trying to develop new working systems such as satellite office and teleworking system. Among these new types of workers the expectation to the social policy is not identical.