Based on experience in the U.S., employment is not decreasing. If we can establish in our social system a positive attitude toward technological innovation, employment can be increasing, not decreasing. If we stick to the past, and old ways of thinking, employment will be decreasing. The Japanese economic model has been a pyramid type so far. There are various industries like telecommunication, manufacturing, financial, and transportation, etc., with the government placed on top of them. Private Sector business is a main driver of the economy, and prime contractors and their affiliated companies make up a pyramid. It was good when population growth used to be a major stimulus of economic growth, but now, the Japanese population is not increasing any more. I think it is a time for Japan to finally shoulder its role as a real advanced country. Domestically, we have considered Japan as one of the advanced countries, but actually, we might have been a developing country.

The existing pyramid structure based on the secondary industries will be wholly collapsed
and new manufacturing, financial or transportation industries based on new information technology will be raised. In years past, the telecommunication business was an independent industry, however, from now on, the Internet will be an infrastructure of every industry. The manufacturer that best exemplifies this new model is General Electric (GE). They are developing new manufacturing industries, using the new information technology industry as a tool. In Japan, we have not achieved that level yet, but we are just now providing the infrastructure. Based on this infrastructure, various venture companies, who develop software, or others playing on Internet, are expanding industries, and they are producing new employment for young people. We are one of such venture companies.

At present, only 63% of college graduates and 46% of high school graduates are designated for some jobs. The fact that only a half of new graduates are employed, shows the existing pyramid structure has already collapsed. In the U. S., employment increases by venture companies (NASDAQ) is 40%, on the other hand, that of traditional large companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is -4%. Large companies are trying to improve efficiency by restructuring and downsizing, but venture companies are expanding employment, resulting in a net increase in the employment rate. I think this model will be applied to Japan in the near future.