Management loyalty, layoffs, and you

The bqd thing I have learned about working in a big company (there are many good things too) in the past few months is that you can not trust management. Your immediate manager probably does what he can to keep the promises he has made, but the farther removed people are from you in the hierarchy, the more you are likely to be a number, and replaceable. Or removable. Shrinking the budget is just a matter of decreasing the percentages in the headcount column, right?
It seems that loyalty is something which only extends to those you have a personal relationship with, so once that personal contact is gone, there is no longer any loyalty to be expected from top management. Here in Japan, where I live, the idea used to be that if you were a white-collar worker, you were hired for life. Or at least until retirement. The first waves of layoffs, in companies which were not going bankrupt, came in the late 90's as the bubble burst, and sent a shockwave through Japanese society. The big companies, where the "salarymen" had exchangrdtheir private lives for a safe position, were no longer honoring their part of the bargain.
I just want to make sure you understand one thing before I go on: there has always been people working part-time, starting their own businesses, figuring out the gaps in the system that they can grow rich filling. But a small company is more likely to go broke than a big one, and if you are paid by the hour you have gaines something, whether it is flexible hours or less qualifications. The price is insecurity. But these types of employment are the norm in Japan, not the lifetime employment, which was the domain of a privileged middle class, promoted as the goal by businesses and government.
But lifetime employments are no longer the norm even in big companies, and after several rounds of layoffs and well-publicized scandals (like Olympus), the Japanese salarymen are starting to doubt the loyalty committment of their employers. And they are realizing that it is perfectly feasible to make a "mid-career change" after they have paid the full contribution - a share of your salary during 20 years - into the national retirement system. or even start their own companies.
With a more mobile workforce comes more exchange of ideas, with more exchange of ideas more needs identified, and more needs to solve means more clever solutions to mondtize. In a weird way, less loyalty is good for Japan.
But not only. Like everywhere, only a few new companies suceed. It is much safer to stay in a big company - especially since Japanese companies are very good at job rotation. Those in a weak situation, like families with small children where the father is the only bread winner, definitely appreciate the security you get from a lifetime employment. Lack of social safety as well as the horrendous record supporting womens self-determination, are lokely two big factors behind the low Japanese birth rate.
That may change. The old Japanese way of thinking was company first, family second. Al least among the men. If they start switching loyalties to family first, companies will have to work harder both to get and keep employees. That will change Japan even more.
But big companiy management are not likely to teact, unless the numbers start changing by themselves. After all, that is the only relation the managers have to their staff.