[Gwanga in] Fair Trade Commission before personnel changes "Only policy success leads to promotion?" Murmurs

Ahead of Fair Trade Commission's Organizational Restructuring and Personnel Changes on the 14th
Investigation Department Staff Worried About Increased Workload
Concerns Over Limited Promotion Opportunities Due to Reduced Face-to-Face Reporting

As the personnel plan following the Fair Trade Commission's (FTC) new organizational restructuring scheduled for the 14th has been shared internally, concerns are emerging among employees. In particular, employees assigned to the investigation department worry that opportunities for high-level face-to-face reporting will be significantly reduced, potentially limiting their 'promotion prospects' compared to those in the policy department. There are also concerns that the actual workload per investigator may increase compared to the existing system.

According to the FTC on the 5th, the commission will implement personnel changes along with the organizational restructuring that separates the current Secretariat into the investigation and policy departments on the 14th. Key personnel matters, such as director and manager positions, were already shared internally last week. Ahead of the personnel changes, the atmosphere inside the FTC is unsettled. FTC employees are in the final stages of organizing the tasks they have handled due to the separation of the investigation and policy departments.

Investigation Department Managers Face Scarce Face-to-Face Reporting Opportunities... Concerns Over Surge in Investigation Workload

However, among the managers assigned to the investigation department, various concerns are voiced. The dominant worry is that actual promotion opportunities will be concentrated only in the policy department. Investigation work typically requires long hours and involves fewer occasions to report to higher-ups. This means opportunities to emphasize achievements through face-to-face reporting are scarce. Under the current system, investigation department managers also handle policy tasks, so face-to-face reporting opportunities were not insignificant.

FTC Manager A said, “There is talk that if you want to advance your career, you have to go to the policy department,” adding, “Face-to-face reporting is already rare in the investigation department, and it will become even scarcer.” He continued, “Ultimately, it will become difficult for higher-ups to identify what ‘talent’ exists in the investigation department.”

There are also concerns that the actual workload of investigation staff will significantly increase. Under the current system, there were not many employees who exclusively performed policy tasks within a single department. Most employees conducted investigation work while concurrently handling policy tasks. FTC Manager B said, “Therefore, if existing investigation personnel are separated into policy personnel, concerns inevitably arise that the investigation workload per person will effectively increase.”

There are also worries about the capabilities of the policy department separated from the investigation department. Previously, most problems identified on-site through investigations were reflected in policy design. The disruption of this organic process could lead to policies being developed solely ‘at the desk.’ FTC Manager C noted, “It means the organic process of contemplating problems identified during field investigations and elevating them into policies is being severed,” adding, “If the partition between the policy and investigation departments becomes higher, there are concerns about efficiency.”

An official from the FTC’s personnel department explained the reduction in face-to-face reporting opportunities for the investigation department by saying, “The matters reported face-to-face by the policy department often involve minor issues that arise from time to time,” and “On the other hand, the investigation department has opportunities to demonstrate capabilities while handling socially significant cases.” The official also said, “When policy and investigation tasks are handled simultaneously, investigation work sometimes takes a backseat in priority for responding to current issues,” adding, “Therefore, the separation of the investigation and policy departments could also lead to improved work efficiency.”