Changing employment relations in East Asia

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to survey East Asian employment relations in the last decade of the 20th century. It first examines the frames of reference applied to the study of East Asian employment relations and then identifies some of the critical characteristics for selected countries. At the beginning of the decade there were signs that Japan might not be able to sustain its economic dynamic, but observers were still confident that the Asian "economic miracle" would be extended through the generations of industrialisation: it would only be a matter of time and adjustment before Vietnam and other late industrialisers caught up with the "tigers", and the "tigers" with the "newly industrialised economies" (NIEs). Towards the end of the decade many East Asian countries went into a recession precipitated by a rapid transfer of capital out of the region in 1997. In 1999, however, Korea was making a strong recovery, while Indonesia's economic crisis was exacerbated by a continuing political crisis. The review makes comparisons within the East Asian employment relations context where appropriate and by addressing the question of what constitutes the regionalisation and globalisation dimensions. Attention is paid to the employment conditions of women workers, especially in the export processing zones (EPZs), and, where possible, to the effects on employment relations of the ongoing financial crisis. The review concludes with a summary that draws attention to the divers characteristics of East Asian employment relations.