今日におけるキャリア支援の意義

Globalization and technological innovations are the cause of great changes in the environment of companies and workers. A variety of problems can be discerned concerning career support, including “NEET,” “freeters” (job-hopping part-time workers), and the unemployment and turnover of young and senior people. Traditional Japanese personnel management systems, such as lifetime employment and the seniority wage system, have been changing. Education systems in companies have also been changing from “company-initiative” to “employee-initiative” and “company support” systems. In this situation we can see the trend of developing “employability,” which is the ability to be employed by one’s own company or by other companies. On the company’s side it became a top priority to motivate employees and to develop their abilities in order to gain global competitiveness. Therefore, career counseling that fosters self-awareness in employees and promotes their own career plans, has attracted the attention of the government, which promotes the training of career counselors. On the employee side, we can see a new way of thinking, “work-life balance” and new work styles, such as short work hours. This paper examines the meaning of career development support as a means of realizing one’s own self from the viewpoints of company, employee, and society.