Laid-back learning sacrifices objectivity | Bangkok Post: opinion

In 1986, Panasonic Corp made headlines by hiring four non-Japanese engineers. The number of foreign employees at this major Japanese electronics maker has steadily grown since then to reach 750 out of 1,250 newly employed in 2010.

Panasonic again sent shock waves throughout Japanese industry and the job market when it announced plans to hire 1,250 overseas foreigners among a total of 1,390 new recruits for fiscal 2011. It added that the remaining 140 would be hired at home regardless of their nationality, with foreign graduates also eligible.

If Japanese engineers continue to decline both in number and quality, so will the country's global competitive edge. Japan was ranked the most competitive economy from 1989 through 1993, according to the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development's World Competitiveness reports. However, its rank dropped to 17th in 2009, 27th in 2010, and 26th in 2011. In contrast, South Korea boosted its ranking from 29th to 23rd to 22nd, Taiwan from 23rd to eighth to sixth, and China from 20th to 18th to 19th during the same period. Japan has already been outpaced by other Asian countries in global competitiveness.