However, good times unfortunately don't last forever, and in the1980s Japan experienced economic collapse. With the long recession, the system of lifelong employment came under severe criticism, and Japanese enterprises looked to overseas for new ideas to reform the system. The old values of teamwork, cooperation and "family" began to disappear. People began to compete with one another.
只是好景不常，1980 年代日本經歷泡沫經濟大崩潰，經濟長期低迷之下，終身雇用制度受到嚴厲批評，企業開始引進新理念、進行重整，打破以往職場重視的團隊精神，開始強調競爭，要求員工從單技能學習多技能，每個人都要發揮創意，注重效率與工作品質。