How the Japanese work: says an Epson employee. Japanese Labor Law

So, the eight-hour working day came to an end. The most important work for today is done, and everything else can wait until the morning. This is what almost every employee thinks when leaving the office in the evening. But not millions of Japanese corporate employees, for whom leaving work to get home in time for dinner can lead to serious accusations of lack of loyalty to their company.

According to 2016 data, almost a quarter of Japanese employers allow their employees to work 80 hours per month. Moreover, these overtime hours are not paid, because workers do this of their own free will. In addition to this, the Japanese do not take the rest time they are entitled to by law, and if they take their entire legal paid leave, they feel guilty.

How many work in different countries of the world?

The latest labor market research from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) looks at the number of official working hours per year in 38 countries around the world. It is noteworthy that countries such as Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg occupy some of the last positions on the list, while the leaders are Mexico, Costa Rica and South Korea.

Working time table in some countries of the world

According to official data, Japan is not in first place in the world in terms of working hours, but this is official. If you add overtime of 80 hours per month, you get more than 2,500 hours per year. Thus, Japanese employees will leave workers from other countries far behind.

"Death by overwork"

The term "karoshi" means "sudden death from fatigue at work." "Karoshi" in Japan may be officially recorded as the cause of death.

An employee of the largest Japanese advertising holding company Dentsu suddenly died at work in 2015. The cause of death was then recognized as depression due to work overload. The incident drew widespread attention and public condemnation of Japan's endless overtime routine.

Dentsu was fined for gross violations of labor laws, as facts of 100-hour monthly overtime were revealed. Dentsu later changed its approach to the working hours of its staff. For example, lights were turned off in offices after 10 p.m. to prevent employees from staying late.

Now the Japanese authorities and employers are actively working to combat karoshi. The government has legally limited the number of hours spent in offices and introduced mandatory rest between the end of the previous and the beginning of a new working day.

In 2016, a new holiday appeared in Japan - Mountain Day. It is dedicated to the numerous mountains of this country, and by decision of the authorities it has become an annual official holiday. This will increase the number of Japanese holidays per year to 16. Holidays in Japan are considered a generous gift from the government to dedicated employees. In May, for example, during the so-called Golden Week, three holidays are celebrated: Greenery Day, Constitution Day and Children's Day. At this time, business life in the country practically comes to a standstill.

Not long ago, the country's government introduced the so-called “Premium Friday”, when employees are allowed to leave work at 15:00 on the last Friday of every month. However, according to surveys, only 4% of Japanese employees leave their jobs this early. As a rule, office workers in Japan come to work half an hour earlier, at 8:30, and finish work late in the evening. For them, this country is home to special stores where you can buy a clean shirt, and capsule hotels where you can spend the night if going home after work no longer makes sense.

Working people in Japan avoid taking long vacations, unlike people in European countries who usually like to go on vacation for several weeks. Some Japanese employees admit to feeling anxious and uneasy when they leave their workplace for long periods of time. The Japanese do not count their vacations in weeks, but exclusively in days. Just as they try to extend their working hours by staying late at work, they do the same with vacations, reducing them to the maximum in order to get back to work as quickly as possible.

Instead of a summer vacation, people here prefer to take a few days off in August during the traditional three-day Obon festival and during the New Year holidays, which in Japan last from December 29 to January 3.

The power of tradition

The main reasons why residents of the Japanese islands are workaholics are the seniority system and commitment to the team. The amount of time worked determines the possibility of further promotion and is often more important than the quality of the work performed.

In Japan, open-type offices are incredibly popular, when work desks are grouped in such a way that employees form separate teams. Each such team has a leader who determines the tasks for the day. Every Japanese office has two meetings daily, one by the senior manager and one by the leader of each group of workers.

The management style in Japan is based on the concept of “group harmony”. The main thing is to achieve agreement among employees, in which any idea brought to the attention of senior management first undergoes comprehensive study and discussion in the group. Approval of the proposal by the work group helps to avoid condemnation of the employee by management, because even the slightest public condemnation is considered a disaster for the Japanese.

Work in Japan. It is possible and necessary!

Japan is currently among the countries that are quite tempting for those people who would like to work in one of the most highly developed countries in the world and at the same time have a very decent salary. After all, Japan is one of the very few countries where in a month, if you are a specialist in a specialty that is especially in demand here, you can earn an amount comparable to the annual income in Germany or France, and it’s not even worth talking about Italy or Spain.

However, finding a job in Japan is both difficult and easy. Simple - because there are official government programs designed to attract foreign labor. We will talk about them below. It’s hard because applicants are almost always required to know Japanese. So the popular proverb “it’s easier to hang yourself than to learn Japanese” seems to be losing its relevance. Now it might sound like this: “It’s better to learn Japanese than to hang yourself in your homeland.”

So, if you still overcome your innate panic fear of the Japanese language, then consider yourself very lucky. There is a government program for employment in Japan JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching Program), which makes it possible for specialists with knowledge of the Japanese language, as well as athletes and creative groups, to get a job in Japan. In addition, there are several internship programs for specialists through the Ministry of Education of Japan, the Japan Association of International Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, as well as through the Japan Foundation.

Finding work in Japan through government organizations is the most effective and fairly affordable way to find employment. However, the very fact of deciding whether to work in Japan is almost as important as answering the questions: where, how and why? Therefore, before you take action, get to know the country where you are going to work.

1. Work mentality

The Japanese are adherents of centuries-old traditions. If we talk about traditions in the field of work, then the most important qualities of the Japanese in this sense are loyalty, politeness, personal responsibility and the ability to work effectively within a certain work group. For the Japanese, it is much more important whether you can bring value by working as a cog in one big, well-coordinated mechanism than as an individual. It’s not that they don’t like single people living according to the principle “my house is on the edge” in Japan, they simply have no chance of success. If you are a highly educated but ambitious person, you will be a much less valuable employee in the eyes of your management than a person with less education, but more patient and open to compromise. In general, if you ask a Japanese who he respects more, the son of the billionaire Maseyoshi or the Mitsubishi engineer, a man who works 60 hours a week and has a much lower income, almost every Japanese will choose the engineer. And do you know why? Because the Japanese, due to their genetically formed corporatism, are more appealing to people working for large companies. Also, the Japanese don't believe in making money the easy way, and if you don't work hard for it, you'll never earn their respect.

2. Working day

The working day in Japan begins with a trip to the place of work. Many Japanese refuse to own a car in order to save money; they prefer not to have their own transport, because its maintenance costs on average $10,000 per month. And who needs a personal car in a country with the best public transport system in the world? Savings, in turn, come at a cost. In large cities, for most people this means tedious, hour-plus commutes on trains filled to 200% of their designed capacity, where reading a newspaper or book is as problematic as rolling cucumbers on the Mir space station as it docks. . But despite this daily morning ritual with a hint of masochism, few Japanese would think of complaining or taking out their irritation on their neighbor.

Arriving at work, the first thing you will need to do is take part in the so-called “beginning of the day ritual”, which consists of not only greeting colleagues and superiors in the correct manner by Japanese standards, but also chanting various slogans and slogans with the rest of the employees. inspiring sayings. After this you can start working. Most Japanese work much more hours than their Western counterparts, despite there being a law limiting the amount of overtime they can work. Most companies officially work from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. However, no one will be surprised by the fact that employees in serious companies come to work at least 30 minutes earlier and stay for several hours after the end of the working day. And they do this on their own initiative. In general, when solving a given problem, a Japanese, as mentioned above, acts as one of the links in one large chain. The main thing for him is to work so that the task assigned to the working group, of which he is a member, is completed in an optimal manner and in the shortest possible time. And since this is so, each individual is rooting for a faster and better solution to the task assigned to his group, and, due to solidarity with his colleagues, he always strives to provide all possible help and support to the rest of the group members, which they may need.

For the same reason, many Japanese rarely take full advantage of their vacation. They know that they are responsible for others, and therefore cannot afford to relax for long. As a reciprocal measure for loyalty, many Japanese companies traditionally take time out for a week in the spring, summer, and also on the New Year, thereby giving their employees the opportunity to legally rest. In addition, they often practice joint trips to nature and picnics, which has a very consolidating effect on all employees of the company.

3. "Labor hierarchy"

In Japan, a lot of attention is paid to sign language. Sometimes this language is more important than the one we are all used to using. If you don't know the basics of Japanese culture of communicating using sign language, then you probably won't be able to achieve any significant success working in Japan. The Japanese's attitude towards you will range from simple disapproval to outright disdain.

It will cause you to go through many difficult moments and can even lead to serious depression, which will jeopardize your very stay in Japan.

It is especially important to have some awareness of these issues when participating in business and social meetings. The Japanese, for example, exchange business cards even before shaking hands or bowing. Any negotiations begin with middle managers. And it would be the height of bad manners on your part to jump over their heads and try to resolve your issues with their superiors directly. When building relationships within the enterprise where you work, you should take into account the fact that in Japan all relationships, both business and non-business, are built on the principles of hierarchy. Older people have higher status than younger people, men are considered superior to women, and older employees are naturally more important than younger ones. Therefore, when you write a letter or any request, you need to contact a Japanese colleague with the same status as you. When conducting business conversations, you need to focus on establishing an atmosphere of friendliness, harmony and trust. Before starting a conversation, you should always talk politely for about ten minutes on general topics in order to establish contact with your interlocutors. Because the Japanese traditionally tend to avoid confrontation, they often resort to some polite forms of refusal. For example, instead of saying "no", a Japanese will usually say: "That would be quite difficult" or something like that. After receiving such a response, you should not insist on continuing to consider the issue in which you are interested, because this will be regarded as an indicator of bad manners.

4. Restaurant

It's a rare business meeting that doesn't end in a restaurant. Don't say "no" when offered an alcoholic drink. An empty glass, like an empty plate, is the equivalent of asking for the next portion. If you don't want to drink, in order not to offend the inviting party, just keep your glass half full - this will be considered a polite refusal of alcohol. Leave a small amount of food on your plate, otherwise you will be thought to have escaped from a hungry land, that is, you are so poor that you cannot even feed yourself. Never pour your own alcohol. This should be done by the waiter or your companion. When offered something to eat, it would be appropriate to politely hesitate before making a decision. If you are given a compliment during a toast, be sure to respond with a counter, much greater compliment.

Take a compliment addressed to you with quiet modesty. Remember that even if a Japanese person respects and values ​​you enormously, he will always pay attention to whether vanity is present in your character. Modesty has always been held in high esteem in Japan.

5. Gifts

Gifts in Japan are so common and so important that almost all Japanese families allocate a special item in their budgets for them. It is customary to give gifts as often and as generously as possible. And rest assured that the Japanese will, as a result, adore you as if they were their own parents, and you will make friends in them, whose help and protection in some cases will bring you dividends incomparable to the value of the gift you gave them.

6. Place of residence and work

As a rule, big cities offer the largest number of vacancies, but living in big cities has its downsides. The labor market here is quite crowded, so as a result of the emerging competition, tariff rates are falling. For example, an English teacher earns on average $30 per hour working in Tokyo, and $40 per hour working somewhere in the periphery. In addition, the cost of living in big cities is much higher than in the periphery and eats up a large part of earnings. However, on the other hand, living in a big city provides an incomparably richer experience in the field of cultural life.

Throughout Japan, there is great demand for two categories of workers: IT- English language specialists and teachers. Bank workers and financiers are also in great demand.

7. Timing and periods

There are periods that are most favorable for employment in Japan, and they should be taken into account depending on what specialty you are going to work in, for what period and in what institution or enterprise.

There are a number of holidays throughout the year in Japan during which most businesses and educational institutions are closed. Therefore, when arriving in Japan, you should keep this in mind so as not to find yourself in front of the closed doors of the company where you are going to work. These periods include: Oshogatsu- Japanese New Year (from December 25 to January 5), Golden Week (from April 29 to May 5) - a season of celebration of several holidays, starting on April 29 - the birthday of the former Emperor Hirohito (now known as Vegetation Day), followed by 3 May - Japanese Constitution Day, and finally May 5th - Children's Day. During this week, most schools and businesses are closed, and many Japanese use this week for travel and vacation. During this period, plane and train tickets, as well as hotel rooms, are sold out almost a year in advance.

Obon- Japanese Festival of the Dead (August 10 - August 15) - the time of many festivals taking place throughout Japan.

We have listed a far from complete list of the main traditions and national characteristics characteristic of Japan. In reality they are inexhaustible. And, studying them more carefully, you will very soon find that you have fallen in love with this country, because it does not leave anyone indifferent. So, get down to business! Learn the language, establish business contacts with Japanese institutions and enterprises, expand them, study the Japanese, show interest in their culture and rest assured that your efforts will be appreciated. Soon you will enjoy Japanese hospitality, earn a lot of money and discover a lot of advantages in yourself that have been dormant for the time being.

About France

I was born in Russia, where I lived for 26 years. During this time, I graduated from university, learned three foreign languages ​​and managed to change seven jobs.

I moved to France in June 2016. I moved to France “for love”. France is a dream country for many of my compatriots. It is surrounded by a lot of stereotypes that do not always have the right to exist. The first thing that surprised me was the appearance of French women: it is more casual than elegant. And regardless of what she is wearing, the French woman always feels confident and relaxed.

About the peculiarities of working in France

In France, I work as an English teacher in language courses for French adults. Despite all the scary stories about how difficult it is to find a job in France, I found a suitable vacancy after a couple of weeks of searching - it was a vacancy for an English-speaking nanny. And to get a teaching position, I just randomly brought my resume to the company.

In France, working conditions, working hours, vacation - everything depends on the specific place of work. The classic work week is only 35 hours. Everything also depends on the type of contract. I am familiar with three: permanent, temporary and permanent “seasonal”. The contract specifies the number of paid working hours per year, conditions for taking leave and other important details.

The biggest difference was that notice of resignation must be submitted two months before leaving, rather than two weeks before leaving.

Interestingly, in France it is customary to greet acquaintances with kisses on the cheek, and the same rule applies at work. Therefore, any working day begins with kisses. Bosses are different, so in this case kisses can be replaced with a handshake. In any case, physical contact must be established. Just coming and saying “Hello” from afar will not work. A Frenchman at work always tries to be polite and remain calm. If this is your colleague, he will always say hello, shake your hand, ask how you are, and talk about the weather.

The attitude towards working time depends on the person himself, but, most likely, you will not see a Frenchman often late at work, especially if these additional hours are not paid. Most often, the French go home as soon as they have worked the allotted time.

In business relationships, the French can be responsible and scrupulous, but often their attitude to work is quite even, without fanaticism or excesses. Everyone here understands that work is part of life.

About plans

Currently I only teach English in language courses, but in the future I plan to teach other languages. I also have some ideas regarding the tourism sector.

Anastasia Pripoltseva, 22 years old, hometown - Vidnoye, Russia, reception worker

About Japan

I graduated from college with a degree in hotel management and work at a chain hotel in Kyoto at the reception desk. I am a permanent employee with a work visa valid for five years and renewable. Besides work, I regularly go to the gym, work part-time as a model, enjoy cooking, and study Japanese home cooking.

Since I was ten years old, I dreamed of moving to Japan. And I knew for sure that a simple tourist trip would not satisfy me. I was looking for different ways, but the chance presented itself. I attended free Japanese language courses at Moscow State University. And on the website I saw an advertisement that a Japanese company was looking for employees for a hotel chain. I came to a seminar where we were first told about the company and then had a group interview. After that, I went through two more interviews via Skype and was hired.

I came to Japan about a year ago, in September 2017. My first vivid impressions were the excellent service at Japan Airlines and the heat upon arrival in Tokyo, clean trains, lack of garbage, polite people. On the way to Kashihara, for the first time in my life I saw mountains, real thickets of bamboo, rice fields and fell in love with this country.

About the peculiarities of working in Japan

The hiring process was quite stressful. The procedure was unusual and lasted a whole year. Even when I was accepted, I still had to obtain a visa, but I had a certificate from my employer, so everything went quickly.

In my position, I have to work 160 working hours per month, and every minute worked is paid. Evening and night shifts are also paid at the top. The company itself selects housing for each employee who comes from afar. As a rule, this is a small apartment within walking distance from the place of work. The employee pays only 10,000 for renting an apartment, the rest is paid by the company. There is also a cash bonus for employees twice a year.

For employees there is a bonus for knowing Japanese. With a score above 900 on the English exam, the employee receives a bonus of 100,000 yen. After that, he can pass the interview in English and receive another 15,000 yen every month. Cash bonuses are also provided for knowledge of other languages ​​and other qualifications.

The working day usually lasts nine hours, with an hour break. There is also a double night shift, which lasts from 15:00 to 09:00 the next day. I also worked such shifts in the first six months. If night shifts are contraindicated for you due to your health, your boss will try to accommodate you and make your working conditions easier. There are only five paid vacation days per year, and there are no sick days. If you get sick, you need to take one of five vacation days or an unpaid day off.

In our hotel the overwhelming number of employees are foreigners. And although we generally work according to Japanese rules, everyone still has their own characteristics. For example, Italians talk loudly while working, while the French often complain and protest. The typical Japanese principles of “boss - subordinate” do not work in our relationships. But he is superior to us in position, status and age, and this quite naturally forces us to give in and indulge him.

We leave work on time only if there is really no work that needs to be done here and now.At the same time, Japanese colleagues feel obliged to look as if they are up to their necks in work at any moment. Even when there is no work, they are frantically looking for something to do. The boss sometimes stays to work another five or six hours after the end of his shift. He has a job that only he can do, but he never trusts us even with small things, he works seven days a week from morning to night.

The Japanese never complain or pass their work onto others, and are always ready to help. They are patient and do not give up work, they do everything efficiently and to the end. At work, they do everything to the benefit of others and to their disadvantage, especially if it concerns a guest or client.

About plans

They say that after a year in Japan you begin to notice significant disadvantages. But at the moment I don’t want to go back to Russia. For me, life here seems simpler. The only difficulty of living in Japan is imperfect knowledge of the Japanese language. But this problem will go away over time.

Yana Bubley, 25 years old, hometown - Kyiv, Ukraine

About Denmark

I was born and lived all my life in Kyiv. I am a lawyer by training, but I have never worked in this field. My work has always been related to organization and leadership.

My husband and I moved to Denmark about a year ago because we both love to travel. The winter before last we lived in Thailand for three months. We heard about Denmark in May 2017, when my friend started processing documents for a work visa. We became interested, and already in July all our documents were ready.

We live and work in the north of Denmark. There is beautiful nature here, two seas, and the nearest town from the house is four kilometers away. All of Denmark is a huge field where houses are scattered at a distance from each other. This is interesting. We liked the local architecture, cleanliness and neatness. We were also surprised that Denmark has a well-developed postal system, and people still receive paper letters, although every important letter is duplicated by email.

About the peculiarities of working in Denmark

If you do not have an EU passport, you can legally work in Denmark only as a student in the agricultural sector. These are all types of animal farms, greenhouses and fields. I work on a chicken farm, and my husband works on a cow farm. My schedule is 12 working days and two days off. I work from six in the morning until two in the afternoon. My responsibilities include collecting eggs, washing, cleaning, sorting, and working on the conveyor. You need to make sure that everything works and control the entire process.

In Denmark, in our area of ​​work, the employer provides housing for his employees. Your conditions, schedule and salary depend on the contract. Different farms have different work schedules. There is a certain standard - 37 working hours per week, for overtime they must either be paid extra or given additional days off. Each year, 10% of the annual salary is allocated for vacation and four or five weeks are given for rest. There is also compulsory health insurance and free healthcare for everyone. But taxes must also be paid on the same basis as the Danes - from 38%.

The Danes have a completely different mentality, they think differently. Therefore, in relations with management, everything depends on the employer. There are those who are adequate and respect the law, and there are those who don’t care. In general, Ukrainians are hardworking, and it happens that we are used and not paid for overtime. But my farmer is a great person, we don't have any problems.

The Danes, especially farmers, are accustomed to difficult physical work. They have no division between men's and women's work. They still don’t get sick and don’t understand what it means to be sick. For them, a temperature of minus 38 is not a problem, and they can go to work.

About plans

My contract ends in December. And if my husband’s contract is extended, then I would like to quit my job and just be a housewife here in Denmark. And if there is no work here, we are planning to move to Finland, I have always dreamed of seeing the northern lights.

Nastya Nemtsova, 23 years old, PR manager of the Chocofamily project “Rakhmet”

About the features of working in Kazakhstan

I live and work in Almaty, in the Chocofamily holding. In the company I am involved in PR - I am responsible for PR in the holding and for the promotion of individual projects of the company. I am the only PR manager, so I work on those projects that need it most. At the moment this is our new project - the Rakhmet mobile application. In addition, there are tasks that are related to building the image of the holding as a whole, and this is also a separate work. The responsibilities of a PR manager also include communicating with journalists, publications, bloggers, organizing and holding events.

When you really want to get a job in a certain company, everything is not so difficult. The specifics of the selection stages and interviews depend on the position for which you are applying. Each employee in our company goes through at least two stages - an interview with an HR manager and a project manager. Personally, I first had to write a series of materials, and later there was an interview with an HR manager who checks whether the person fits the company’s values. And if the person is suitable, then the next stage comes - I had an interview with the marketing director, as well as with the project director. And the last interview was with the founder of the holding, Ramil Mukhoryapov.

If we talk about working conditions, it is worth highlighting that last year we moved to a new office, which is located in SmartPoint. SmartPoint is a hotspot for cool Internet companies; parties, meetings, and seminars constantly take place here. And when you are in this atmosphere, you have a constant motivation to create something new. We have lounges, a large kitchen, and plenty of workspaces and spaces.

The working day lasts from nine in the morning to six in the evening - nine hours, but in fact we work more. This suits everyone, because we all understand that we are moving towards a common goal. Our vacation is also standard - two weeks twice a year.

We also have our own internal motivation program. Each season, each employee is prescribed a plan for his professional and personal development. And at the end of the season, we see which employee scored the most points and reward the best. In addition, each department also has its own motivational program.

I had experience working in different companies. And there is a certain stereotype that we, Kazakhstanis, can afford to miss deadlines and be late. And indeed there are companies that allow themselves to work at such a rhythm. But at the same time, many companies appear that have a philosophy, a corporate culture, a certain rhythm. And this is the peculiarity of our country, we have different companies and different approaches to work.

About plans

The plans are always only for growth. Only those people who are focused on growth can take root in fast-growing companies.

Blogger Mary Galloran, who worked in Japan for six years, published a note on her personal website about how the country's corporate culture works. According to the author, the Japanese almost never take vacations or quit, but they work extremely unproductively. The girl also mentioned the conditions under which foreigners work in Japanese companies.

“The clock shows five o'clock in the evening - the official end of the working day. But no one leaves,” writes Mary Galloran. According to her, the management of Japanese companies strongly recommends that their employees leave the workplace at a set time in order not to pay extra for overtime, but workers still prefer to stay in the office until late in the evening.

“As on other days, I turn off the computer, pack my things and apologize to my colleagues for having to leave early today. They respond that they understand my fatigue and thank me for the work I’ve done.” The rest of the workers, writes the author of the material, do not leave the office after 10 or even 30 minutes - they remain at their workplaces until 10–11 pm.

Galloran worked for the Japanese company for six years. All the while, she says, she was trying to figure out how her colleagues could spend so much time in the office, given how little work they had to do.

According to the girl, Japan has attracted her since childhood. “I watched anime, played Japanese video games, studied the history of the samurai - I went crazy about this country. I taught myself Japanese in high school and continued studying it at university. My dream was to one day live in Japan, and I knew that with my linguistic and cultural skills I could get a job at a large company - like Toyota." The author of the material writes that she has repeatedly heard “nightmare” stories about what it is like to work in Japan from her friends, but, like everyone else, she hoped that she would not suffer the same fate.

Perhaps you speak Japanese fluently and are wondering where you can apply those skills. Maybe you just dream of visiting the homeland of anime and robots. Or you're just super unlucky and accidentally landed a job at a Japanese company. In any case, you'd better find out what it's like to work in Japan beforehand.

Huge processing

Recycling in Japan is common across all industries, Galloran said. Often, company employees work 14 hours a day. In a comment to The Guardian, a Japanese resident admitted that he works up to 100 hours extra every month. Previously (in the 80s and 90s) in Japan they paid for overtime, the author of the material notes, but now companies have abandoned this practice.

Galloran notes that office etiquette prevents employees from leaving work at five o'clock in the evening - leaving the workplace before the boss is considered disrespectful. “The Japanese are very social. They stay in the office to maintain "wa" - work harmony. Employees prefer to work with the rest of the team rather than go home.”

If Tanaka-san leaves the office at five o'clock in the evening every day, and everyone else works until ten o'clock in the evening, then Tanaka-san is a selfish bastard.

The only one who can leave work at five o'clock in the evening and not incur the wrath of his colleagues, says the author of the material, is a foreign English teacher. The Japanese don't accept him as a "real" team member.

Productivity doesn't matter much

As Mary Galloran writes, the Japanese actually don't have much work to do - but knowing how much time they have to spend in the office, employees stretch it out as much as possible. “Here they can spend a couple of hours sending one email or a week creating a simple PowerPoint presentation,” says the girl.

In addition, she notes, the Japanese are rewarded not for how they work, but for how long they work - that is, in order to get a promotion, you need to work in the company for a certain period of time. The quality of work does not play a decisive role. This is why, the girl believes, the Japanese so rarely change jobs.

Layoffs and salaries

Galloran notes that workers in Japan are rarely fired, “even if they sleep on the job.” At the same time, dismissal, if it does occur, is perceived very painfully by the employee, often leading to suicide. Losing a job, the girl says, for a Japanese is akin to losing a family.

Salaries in Japan, compared to the United States, are low - on average, residents of the country earn $30 thousand a year. Women earn about $25 thousand a year. And although prices in Tokyo, Galloran writes, are on average lower than in the United States, the difference in salaries is still noticeable.

Twice a year, employees of Japanese companies receive bonuses for their work. In total, these bonuses reach half of the employee’s annual salary. “Many of my Japanese colleagues admitted that if it weren’t for the bonuses, they would struggle to make ends meet.”

Paid holiday

Japanese workers, says the author of the material, prefer not to take time off, even if they are sick. She gives one of her colleagues as an example: one day he came to work wearing a mask. The employee had no voice, he had a fever, and he could only communicate with colleagues by coughing, the girl says. During the lunch break, the young man went to the hospital, where he was given an IV, and then he returned to his workplace, where he stayed until 11 pm.

The next day, both Mary Galloran and one of her American colleagues discovered the same symptoms.

Of course it was worth it - he proved to both his boss and most of us that he takes his job very seriously.

The Japanese, writes the author of the material, are not used to taking paid vacations or sick leave. The country's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe personally instructed legal services to take care of this problem - and proposed sending the Japanese on forced leave.

Conclusion

Assimilation in Japan, the girl notes, is almost impossible - both in a cultural and corporate sense. Residents of the country consider all visiting workers to be strangers - they do not become part of the team and have almost zero chance of getting promoted.

In the USA, the girl writes, employees sent from Japan to work in the American branch of the company receive full insurance, do not pay taxes (the company does this for them), receive a monthly stipend of $3,000 for personal needs, and also have the opportunity to get a raise. service.

At the same time, Americans working in a branch of a Japanese company in the United States are forced to pay all taxes themselves, do not receive scholarships or benefits, and do not have the opportunity to get a raise. The chances of an American occupying a leadership position, the author of the material notes, are very low.

As Galloran writes, not all companies treat foreigners this way—when she worked for a Japanese company in Shanghai, American employees were paid for travel to the office and helped with taxes, but it was still almost impossible to get a promotion.

If you want to work for a Japanese company, I advise you to think carefully. Imagine what exactly you would like to get from your career.

A Japanese man leaves his house at 7 am. At work, he exists within the strict confines of his status. After the end of the official working day, he takes extra hours because he has to feed his family. He then goes out drinking with colleagues and returns home from there at 2 a.m., most likely drunk. He works on Saturdays. Sees his family only on Sundays. Moreover, until the evening, he can either sleep or drink all day off, because he is under terrible stress from such a cruel regime.

There is a stereotype that Japan is a good place to work. This stereotype comes from our compatriots who work by invitation in foreign companies, where the Japanese try to adapt to the level and style of foreigners. Meanwhile, in the Land of the Rising Sun itself, the traditional work system is structured in a very unique way, and it is quite difficult to exist in it. That is why there are not many foreigners building a career in classic Japanese companies. Epson employee Marina Matsumoto talks about what it’s like for the average office worker in Japan.

Dress code

Of course, the conditions depend on the specific company, but in principle the dress code in Japan is much stricter than in Russia. Failure to comply with its rules has serious consequences for the employee, including immediate dismissal.

In a traditional Japanese company, a mandatory black suit is worn regardless of the weather, even if it is +40 outside.
The Japanese tolerate both heat and cold calmly, as they go through a very harsh school of hardening the body in childhood. Recently, a new law was passed allowing people to wear short-sleeved shirts to work. This is due to the forced saving of electricity, in which even in extreme heat air conditioners are no longer always used in offices.

In some companies, women are not allowed to wear fitted suits - they must be completely straight. Skirt required should cover your knees.

Women's accessories are also prohibited. I have a large serious company, it is famous internationally level. But I work where mostly Japanese work. At the workplace I was only allowed to wear a cross - under my clothes so that it would not be visible - and a wedding ring.

Makeup should be invisible. Japanese women love to wear bright makeup, their cheeks are very rosy, and almost all of them have false eyelashes. But at work, a woman should be as unattractive as possible to men.

In some places, women must only wear short hair that does not cover their ears. Hair color must be black. If you are naturally blonde, for example, you will have to dye your hair.

In addition to long hair, men are not allowed to wear a beard or mustache. This is an unspoken rule that everyone knows. The persistent image of the Yakuza (this is a traditional form of organized crime in Japan) gets in the way.

Subordination

When I got a job, I signed a bunch of documents, where I assured that I would not discuss anything with clients and colleagues except work: neither the weather, nor nature. I don’t have the right to share my “personal data” at work - who is my husband, how are I doing... At home I don’t have the right to talk about my work. My job is not secret, but it is customary and stated in my contract.

At work they only work

They only take to the workplace what they need for work: for me, these are documents and a pen. I can’t take my bag, wallet or phone; it remains at the checkpoint.

In Russia there is a favorite saying: if you have done your job, go for a walk. In the Russian workplace, the main thing is that you complete the plan for today. In Japan, no one is interested in “plans for today.” You come to work and have to work at it.

How the Japanese slow down the work process

In Russia, we all know that your salary depends on the results of your work. If you work poorly, you get nothing. If you work well, you receive bonuses and promotions. You’ve done everything - you can leave early or ask for an additional task to earn more.

In Japan you pay by the hour. Almost all Japanese people take overtime. But this often results in them stretching out one task that can be completed in two hours over a week. The deadlines set by the company also do not always correspond to the level of complexity of the work. The Japanese will poke around for hours, it seems to us that they work like sleepy flies, but they think that they do the work “thoroughly”. They incredibly slow down the workflow, so it’s difficult for us to work with them.

And this, by the way, is one of the main reasons why their economy was not in the best condition. They have trapped themselves with this hourly payment system. After all, in essence, work is designed not for quality, but for the number of hours spent in the office.

Long, lengthy conversations

We all know that brevity is the sister of talent, but in Japan, brevity is narrow-mindedness. The Japanese cannot speak briefly and to the point. They launch into long and extensive explanations, which are aimed at ensuring that even a narrow-minded person understands what they are talking about. Meetings can last an incredible number of hours. The Japanese believe that if they talk for a long time and in excessive detail about the same thing, then they respect the interlocutor.

Stratification of society

Growing rice requires a lot of work and organization. Therefore, historically, Japan has developed a system with a very narrow specialization of labor and strict stratification of society. Everyone has their own responsibilities and their place in life. and production process.

Japanese communities have always been clearly organized. For example, a samurai never prepared food for himself; he could easily have died of hunger if the peasantry had not helped him out.

As a result of this mentality, it is very difficult for any Japanese to make an independent decision that is not inherent in his status. They cannot take upon themselves basic responsibility that somehow goes beyond the scope of their everyday routine. To put a comma or not to put it is a problem for half a day. Preparing basic documents is a series of endless, very slow consultations. Moreover, the mandatory nature of such consultations is amazing. If an employee nevertheless takes it upon himself to make a decision that is not based on his status, then everyone in the hierarchical chain associated with him will receive a reprimand.
This is eastern despotism in action: “I am a small man, I am a simple peasant, and I should only do the work assigned to me.”

Again, everything is understandable: Japan is a small country with a large overpopulation, it needs strict frameworks and rules.
To survive in Japan, you need to clearly know: my border is here, and this is the border of another person, I must respect it. No one goes beyond their limits. If a Japanese man marries them, he will literally be lost.

Russia has a huge territory, vastness, and open spaces. We are not constrained. We are free. A Russian person can do whatever he wants. And the Swede, and the reaper, and the player on the pipe - this is primarily about us, Russians!

Same as everyone else

Interestingly, in Japan you are not supposed to demonstrate your difference or superiority in mind. You cannot show your uniqueness, specialness. This is not welcome. Everyone should be the same. From childhood, uniqueness is burned out there with a hot iron, so Japan will not give the world either Einstein or Mendeleev.

Famous Japanese technology is a myth. As a rule, these are ideas that were not created by the Japanese. What they do well is to deftly pick up on time and improve. But we, on the contrary, can brilliantly create and forget...

To survive in Japanese society, you have to be just like everyone else. In Russia it’s the other way around: if you’re the same as everyone else, you’ll get lost. New ideas are constantly needed to master and fill a large space.

Career

In a classic Japanese company, it takes a long time to build a career. Career advancement depends on age, not merit. A young specialist, even a very talented one, will occupy an insignificant position, work a lot and for a low salary, because he has just arrived. Because of this organization of the work process, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Japanese companies to compete internationally market. Yes, there is the concept of “Japanese quality,” but this no longer saves them, because business is conducted too much in the Japanese way.

Salary

Officially, salaries in Japan are high. But with the deduction of all taxes, which amount to almost 30%, they receive an average of a thousand dollars. Young people receive even less. At 60 years old, the salary is already a very decent amount.

Vacations and weekends

There are no holidays in Japan. Weekends are Saturday or Sunday. And, depending on the company, you are entitled to a few extra days off per year. Let’s say it’s 10 days, but you can’t take them all at once, you need to split them up. It happens that you need to take one day off during the week and go somewhere on business. In my company, I have to give a month’s notice about this so that everyone can cooperate and replace me. In some companies these terms are even longer. Taking time away from work due to an unexpected incident is problematic.

If you are sick on Monday and are thinking of not going to work, then they will not understand you. All with fever go to work.

Weekends may include holidays, All Souls Day - Obon, in mid-August. But a young specialist does not have such an opportunity; he will work for the first two years without extra days off.

For the New Year, 1–3 days are given. If they fall out on Saturday-Sunday, then no one, like in Russia, will tolerate them for Monday-Tuesday.

There is also a “golden week” in May, when several public and religious holidays occur in a row. My husband worked all days, I had 3 days off.

Working day

Standard working hours are from 9 am to 7 pm. But the main thing you must keep in mind: if it is indicated that the working day is from nine, then you cannot come directly to this time. Even if you arrived at 8:45, you are considered late. You have to arrive to work at least half an hour before, some people come an hour before. It is believed that a person needs time to get into a working mood and prepare for work.

The end of the official workday does not mean you can go home. It is not customary to leave before your boss. If he's delayed in the office for two hours, then you are delayed and it will not be considered overtime. Your personal circumstances are your personal problems, which, as I already mentioned, according to the agreement I signed, are not discussed with colleagues.

Informal communication

In Japan there is the concept of “nomikai” - “drinking together”, reminiscent of a Russian corporate party. Somewhere “nomikai” takes place every day, in my company - twice a week. Of course, you can refuse, but they will look at you askance. Why drink? Because in Japan there is a positive attitude towards alcohol. Shintoism involves offerings to certain gods in the form of alcohol. Japanese doctors believe that drinking alcohol every day is beneficial. Nobody talks about doses.

The Japanese do not know how to drink and, as a rule, get very drunk. The drink itself will not cost you anything; either your boss or the company always pays for it.

Now, to further encourage visiting bars with colleagues, workers are even being paid for “nomikai.” It's part of Japanese culture to work together and drink together. It turns out that you spend almost 24 hours a day, 365 days a year only with your work colleagues.

In addition to "nomikai", you need to drink with clients, with partners, with officials with whom the company is connected.

Yes, there is something similar in Russia, but it is incomparable to the Japanese alcoholic scale. And besides, in Russia the attitude towards alcohol is much more negative.

Now you can imagine the whole picture. A Japanese man leaves his house at 7 am. At work, he exists within the strict confines of his status. After the end of the official working day, he takes extra hours because he has to feed his family. He then goes out drinking with colleagues and returns home at 2 a.m., most likely drunk. He works on Saturdays. Sees his family only on Sundays. Moreover, until the evening, he can either sleep or drink all day off, because he is under terrible stress from such a cruel regime.

In Japan there is a special concept: “death from processing." This is a very common case when people die at their desks or, unable to withstand the workload, commit suicide. For Japan, this is par for the course, an event to which there is practically no reaction. People will even be outraged if someone's suicide interferes with their work. Everyone thinks: “Why didn’t you do this in a quiet, inconspicuous place, because of you I won’t come to work on time!”

We must understand that the Japanese did not sit and invent these rules for themselves. Everything was going well over the centuries due to geographical and the historical identity of Japan. Probably everyone will agree that they had good reasons for such a mobilization of society, constant readiness for something. A small territory, many people, wars, earthquakes, tsunamis - everything can collapse at any moment. Therefore, from childhood, the Japanese learn to work in a group, learn to survive on their own piece of land. In essence, all Japanese education is not built on teaching a person something, developing him - it teaches him to be a real Japanese, to be competitive in Japanese society. Not everyone can bear this kind of life because it is really hard.

Maria Karpova