From bankers to factory staff, employees in the west
face the bleak prospect (暗淡的前景) of losing their jobs as a global
recession (衰退) 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 keep jobs in difficult times, which will
stop 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 Western shift to
Eastern flexibility.
“In the Confucian (儒家的) attitude,
the right thing to do is to share the burden. There is the sense of collective
responsibility whereas (然而) in the West, it’s more about the
individual survival,” said Michael Benotlel, associated professor of
organizational behavior at Singapore Management University.
Steven Pang, Asian Regional Director for Aquent, a
headhunting firm, said in many East Asian companies there was a responsibility
“ to take care of the members of the family and go through the pain together”
even if that meant causing losses.
US firms from General Motors to Goldman Sachs plan to
lay off workers by the thousand. 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 (对手) from abroad.
(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements
in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS.)
1.What caused the different practices of Asian and
Western firms facing the global recession?
2.Why is it easier for the East Asian firms to recover
quickly from the economic downturn?
3.Firms in the west would lay off workers when facing
a bleak prospect because of ______.
4.______ will make the differences in East and West
less noticeable.
