Honko - Honko

Generally, it refers to regular workers (full-time employees) who work in the production process of large companies, and is used in contrast to temporary workers and outside workers. Employees are not included in regular workers. Traditionally, regular workers were placed under a seniority-based labor-management (capital) relationship characterized by lifetime employment and a seniority-based wage system, and had a relatively stable position in terms of wages, welfare benefits, social insurance, etc., compared to workers in small and medium-sized enterprises, temporary workers, and outside workers. The regular worker class was formed around the time of World War I, when Japanese capitalism entered the monopoly stage and skilled workers were trained and retained within companies. During the high growth period after World War II, meritocratic labor management for regular workers was strengthened, and during the low growth period from the mid-1970s onwards, personnel reductions, transfers, and secondments extended to regular workers, and their position gradually became unstable. Furthermore, the number of regular workers is decreasing due to the computerization of production lines, the introduction of industrial robots, and the relocation of factories overseas due to global competition. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Basic Survey on Employment Structure, the number of regular manufacturing and production workers decreased from 7.52 million to 5.83 million between 1992 and 2007.

[Goga Kazumichi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

一般に、大企業の生産工程に就労する常用労働者（正規雇用）をいい、臨時工や社外工と対比して用いられる。職員層は本工には含めない。従来の本工労働者は、終身雇用制や年功賃金体系を特徴とする年功的労使（資）関係のもとに置かれ、賃金、福利厚生、社会保険などにわたって、中小企業労働者や臨時工、社外工などと比べ、相対的に安定した地位にあった。本工層は、第一次世界大戦前後、日本資本主義が独占段階を迎え、熟練労働者を企業内で養成、定着させる過程で形成された。第二次世界大戦後の高度成長期には、本工に対する能力主義的労務管理が強化され、1970年代なかば以降の低成長期には、人員整理や配置転換、出向などが本工にまで及び、その地位はしだいに不安定になった。さらに、製造ラインのコンピュータ化や産業ロボットの導入、グローバル競争を背景とする工場の海外移転もあって、本工の人数は減っている。総務省「就業構造基本調査」によれば、正規雇用の製造・制作作業者は1992年（平成4）から2007年にかけて752万人から583万人に減少した。

［伍賀一道］

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