That's insane. How much are you exaggerating for effect? I have a hard time believing software engineers in the mid-20s can be so unproductive, or that any culture could be so accepting of such a thing.
It doesn't mesh with my foreigners take on Japan, but then I have never lived or worked there.
It isn't exaggerated, at least not for traditionally managed companies.
Here's something that would shock you. Talk to a Japanese businessman who likes you and does business in Japan. Ask him what he thinks about Japan.
100% of answers (no exaggeration) have been some version of "Japan is finished.". It's hard for anyone to imagine how utterly and completely negative the Japanese self-image is, at least among the business men I've talked to.
Although much of their attitude has got to be a reflection of Japan being in it's 2nd lost decade ... but such a thing can be self-fulfilling. I.e. it sounds like there isn't much in the way of Keynes' "animal spirits" there.
And this is reflected in a "lowest low" birthrate ... Mark Steyn says no society has ever recovered from that....
Are you familiar with the significance of the word "FizzBuzz" as it relates to programming skill levels? Tolerating non-productive programmers for long stretches of time is not a trait unique to Japanese corporations. We expect ours to eventually grow out of it, though.
This sounds like institutionalizing on company/sector wide scales non-productive programmers for something like a decade, instead of some programming teams being dysfunctional.
Japan is very short on young people; how easily can it afford to waste a decade of their career? Especially when other countries don't do this?
It's also got to be ... suboptimal for the spirit to work for a decade knowing that you're not accomplishing anything that affects the real world, at least compared to other countries where young people accomplish real things and get positive self-reinforcing feedback starting at the beginning of their career.
(Even if your company doesn't succeed, you've still produced something, or at least tried to and hopefully learned some lessons along the way.)
Japan is very short on young people; how easily can it afford to waste a decade of their career?
Productivity growth. Which literally means "every year, fewer people are able to produce more stuff".
There's also the problem of the global economic slump. Which literally means "we have lots of things that could be done, like fixing hundred-year-old pipes and buildings. And we have lots of extra workers who could be doing things. But they are compelled to sit around twiddling their thumbs in their Japanese corporate cubicles, or their American parents' basements, or whatever, watching stuff crumble, because the economic equilibrium is stuck in low gear".
It has some benefits. Some companies invest like crazy, to get its engineers up to standard. That pays off, as they have good employee loyalty, and their employees are really immersed in that company's culture. That only works if you hold onto employees though.
Seriously, if your core business is producing great employees to work on your niche of products, then it doesn't hurt to invest in training.
* Note, this doesn't work great if the niche moves.
It doesn't mesh with my foreigners take on Japan, but then I have never lived or worked there.