Nonmanufacturing firms were pressed to boost their productivity - which was said to be behind that of the manufacturing sector - amid the ongoing deregulation in addition to the balance-sheet adjustment following the collapse of the “bubble” economy. Turning to the industrial structure, the Japanese economy seemed to be still in the process of transition.
I’m not at all about getting rid of job protection. What counts is the overall package: firms need sufficient scope for action and certainty of planning, while at the same time workers need sufficient protection. Reducing job protection would have to go hand-in-hand with improved safeguards for people who lose their jobs.