The proverb is advice for anyone tempted to give up early: sit on a cold stone for three years and even the stone warms up. Parents and managers still say it to new graduates thinking of quitting their first job. In hiring, it has become a habit of reading CVs.
To a Japanese executive, someone who has changed companies every two years looks impatient, under-committed or quietly underperforming, not ambitious. Three to four years in a role is roughly the floor below which questions start. In global markets the same CV can be a strength, showing mobility, adaptability and demand. The two readings meet in a Japan hiring process, and they often clash.
The proverb has not stopped young people from leaving. Government data show that around a third of university graduates leave their first employer within three years: 33.8% of those who started work in 2022. Under labour shortages, many Japanese companies have also become more accepting of CVs with a move every year or two. But for the generation now in senior leadership, tenure remains one of the first things they look for.
What it means for a foreign employer
- Expect the Japan leadership to check tenure. Short stints are among the most common reasons a candidate approved by the regional panel stalls with the local team.
- Explain short tenures upfront. An acquisition, a closed office, a fixed-term project or a manager who left are legitimate reasons. Put them in the candidate's presentation rather than letting the panel guess.
- Do not adopt the heuristic blindly. Some of the strongest bilingual candidates have moved often because they were in demand. Judge the pattern, not the count.
- Candidates apply the same test to you. The question many senior Japanese candidates ask themselves, but may never say, is whether they will still be in the job in three years, and whether it will have been worth it. A Japan strategy that changes every two years gives them their answer.
Sources
- Traditional proverb.
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, separation rates of new graduates (those who graduated in March 2022), published 2025.