March is the last month of the financial year in Japan. Every officer in Japanese local government is now struggling to complete his or her tasks within the month because March is not only the end of this year’s budget but also the last time to work with the same members of their respective department. This is because most staff will take up different roles come April.
As I mentioned in a former article, almost all staff of a local government start their careers in their 20s, working for the same local government until their retirement at the age of 60 – a typical “lifetime employment” structure. This means they seldom move to other governments or companies but instead move to other positions within the same local government every two to four years. This move is done on the 1st of April, just like our two members, Mr. Seino & Mr. Shiba who will be returning to their local governments and taking up new roles.
Although local government salaries are not purely based on merit, the structure rewards hard work by repositioning deserving staff into popular/highly sought after roles. As such, local government staff make their desired role known to management between November and December and results are released one week before April 1st. This means local government officers across Japan are now eagerly anticipating the results of their application which also doubles as a form of evaluation from management.
Katsunori Kamibo
Director