From bankers to factory staff, employees in the West face the bleak prospect of losing their jobs as a global recession starts to bite. For colleagues in the East, the pain is more likely to come through a pay cut.
Human resource experts say cultural differences explain why Asian firms try harder to preserve jobs in difficult times, which will stem unemployment and may help keep Asian economies afloat at a time of slowing exports.
The East Asian attitude may also make it easier for firms to recover quickly from the economic downturn since they will not need to rehire or train new staff, leaving some experts predicting a Western shift to Eastern flexibility.
"In the Confucian mindset, the right thing to do is to share the burden. There's that sense of collective responsibility whereas in the West, it's more about individual survival," said Michael Benoliel, associate professor of organizational behavior at Singapore Management University (SMU).
Steven Pang, Asia regional director for Aquent, a headhunting firm, said in many East Asian companies there was an obligation "to take care of members of the family and go through the pain together" even if that meant incurring losses.
In contrast, Western counterparts often felt compelled to make dramatic statements to show investors they were serious about cost-cutting, Pang said.
US firms from General Motors to Goldman Sachs plan to lay off workers by the thousands, but at the Asian units of Western multinationals, job cuts will probably be less severe.
Japan's jobless rate was 4 percent in September, up from 3.8 percent in January, while Hong Kong's was flat at 3.4 percent. But US unemployment is expected to have jumped to 6.3 percent last month from below 5 percent in January.
Experts say that while there are noticeable differences in labor practices in East and West, the gap will narrow as more firms become more multinational and competition forces firms to adopt the best practices of rivals from abroad.
隨著全球經濟衰退的影響逐漸顯現，西方國家從銀行職員到工廠工人，都面臨著丟飯碗的風險；而對于東方“同仁“們來說，可能只是減薪而已。
人力資源專家將這種差別歸因為文化差異。在經濟困難時期，亞洲公司會更努力地保留職位，這不僅可以減少失業，還能幫助該地區經濟在出口放緩的情況下保持平穩。
東亞企業的這種作風可能有助于其迅速從經濟衰退中復蘇，因為這些企業無需再重新招聘和培訓新員工。因此一些專家預測，西方企業將來或許也會借鑒東方企業的這種靈活模式。
新加坡管理大學組織行為學副教授邁克爾?貝諾列爾說：“儒家思想倡導有難同當，他們有一種集體責任感，而西方文化則更關注個人生存。”
“領群”獵頭公司亞洲區主管Steven Pang稱，很多東亞公司認為有義務“照顧公司大家庭的成員和共渡難關”，盡管這樣做可能會給公司帶來損失。
相反，西方企業往往認為他們有必要做出明確表態，讓投資者相信他們降低成本的決心。
通用汽車和高盛投行等許多美國企業計劃大批裁員，而相比之下，西方跨國公司的亞洲分公司的裁員力度可能要小一些。
日本今年9月份的失業率為4%，高于1月份的3.8%；香港的失業率仍保持在3.4%。而美國上月的失業率預計已升至6.3%，其1月份的失業率還不到5%。
專家指出，雖然東西方企業在對待員工方面存在顯著差別，但隨著越來越多的企業更加國際化，以及競爭壓力迫使企業采取國外的先進做法，這種差異將逐漸縮小。 |
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