The other day I stumbled upon an article on Japanese work culture. My initial perception of Japanese culture was that workers treated each other with respect. I had heard that workers referred to each other with the suffix ‘san’ as a sign of respect, and that a level of professionalism and respect between workers at different levels in the organisation.
I was, however, quite surprised to read the article that mentioned that, in spite of Labour Laws, it was not unusual for employees to work 60-hour weeks. This has led to a phenomenon called karo-shi, which means death from overwork. The article emphasises that employees have been known to spontaneously drop dead of exhaustion.
The article further mentioned that foreign workers were not pressured to log the same amount of hours as their Japanese counterparts.
In the chapter, “Theories of Motivation,” a key theory that is discussed is the equity theory. It asserts that individuals compare their job inputs and outcomes with those of others and then respond to eliminate any inequities.
In the case presented, foreign workers are being given the same amount of pay, for a lesser number of hours, working under better conditions than the Japanese. It seems like the Japanese work culture has taken a turn for the worst. Not only are they not treating employees fairly and equally, they are pushing Japanese locals to their limits, so much so that they are dropping dead of exhaustion. This is not only a bad work environment, it is inhuman.
I believe that maximising the output from your employees is a key to any good business. However, the Japanese seem to have taken this a little too far. The fact that they are doing this unlawfully is horrifying. The fact that the world does not know about this – even worse.
When will the money hungry CEOs realise that their employees are not cogs in a huge money-making machine, but just people looking to earn an honest living?
I guess we’ll never know.
Word Count: 336
1. Landed, S.L. Just. “Working in Japan.” Just Landed. N.p., 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.
2. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, p. 146
