A141 In Japan when you were employed you would, by and large, continue to be employed at the same company until retirement. Therefore, when business became a little difficult, one could not easily lay off staff. The lifetime employment system and the seniority system, which provided employees guarantees for life, created loyalty and devotion that were seen as the source of Japan's management strength. This led to companies adopting strategies that limited, as faras possible, the need to dismiss employees when restructuring was needed. Such strategies included reducing the number of new employees, the introduction of work-sharing, freezing annual pay raises, and salary reductions. The effect was such that even during the recession, following the collapse of the economic bubble, the unemployment rate did not rise suddenly.