When good organizations still face employee concerns: psychological safety and the content of employee concerns in a Japanese subsidiary in China

This study examines employee concerns in an anonymized Japanese manufacturing subsidiary in China characterized by relatively high psychological safety and organizational commitment. Using repeated cross-sectional surveys from 2021, 2023, and 2025, we combine qualitative analysis of employees’ written comments with supplementary quantitative evidence. Psychological safety was consistently associated with organizational commitment, whereas autonomy did not mediate this relationship. Material concerns persisted across all three waves alongside managerial, relational, participatory, and development-related concerns. The findings suggest coexistence and broadening, rather than replacement, of employee concerns and show why their substantive content matters even in relatively stable organizational settings.