How Working in Japan is Different from the World

Shizuoka Police Mascot.

I've recently learned about how Japanese companies operate. My business class students are only too happy to explain how different Japanese companies are from the rest of the world. Aside from asking employees to work overtime, everyday, Japanese companies also have unusual practices in hiring employees,in negotiating with clients, in how long they stay their companies, in how employees get paid and in how companies regulate overtime.


1. Recruitment: No Positions

When hiring, foreign companies advertise a specific job position with the needed qualifications. Job description is also specified. Hence, a foreign applicant knows exactly what kind of job he's applying for. 

On the other hand, Japanese companies advertise general job positions with no clear-cut job title. Once the recruitment process has ended, the company would then distribute the various jobs to the newly-hires. Japanese applicants don't look for job positions but for companies they can work for. Hence, it's common to be assigned to a work you don't know anything about. The company can also ask you to move to a some place where a job is waiting for you. 

Also, university students in their last year are expected to be hired by a company even before their graduation. Students with no job prospects after graduation are considered somewhat of a failure. 

2. Negotiation: No Conclusions

For foreigners, people meet and negotiate to settle issues. A negotiation or a meeting is successful when there's a resolution. 

Not so in Japan. Negotiations without conclusions is the norm. A meeting is just a venue for discussion but it doesn't mean that a conclusion should be reached. A student said that final decisions are made a few days after a meeting. Whoever needs to decide on something must send an email or call. He mentioned that he knows how much foreigners are frustrated by this practice and this can be a problem if companies want to compete in the global market. The upside, he defended, is that decisions are thoughtfully considered rather than hurriedly.  

3. Employment: One Company for Life

An older student asked me why foreigners change companies frequently. He can't understand why would anyone like to keep on adjusting to a new work environment. In Japan, people work for decades in one company. It's one company for life. Japanese get married, have children, go through mid-life  and get old one company. I don't know why other people change companies but  as for me I change jobs for career growth, higher salary and relocation chances. 

4. Salary: It Gets Better in Time

Why Japanese stay in one company? The answer could be in their practice to reward long-time employees regardless of performance. A big factor on how employees' salaries are decided is seniority. If you're older, your pay is higher. If you stay longer, your pay is higher. Performance bonus? What is that? Even promotions are based on age and length of stay. No wonder Japanese stay in one company for life. 

5. Overtime: Can't Stop Working

There's a catch in having a secured job. It's working overtime, everyday even to the point of death. The Japanese has a word for death by overworking. It's karoshi. In the 1990`s, there was a rise in death tolls because of karoshi. This prompted the government to ask companies to regulate overtime work. The problem is I don't think Japanese know how to'' regulate overtime.'' They still work long hours, like 12-16 hours a day, everyday. Even Saturdays. No kidding. Companies don't verbally demand their employees to work overtime but they don't stop them either. Some companies even had to assign a day in a workweek when no one can do overtime. Not even the boss. It's a written rule so everybody will follow. 

In other cultures, unless you have a high position people who do overtime everyday are considered inefficient. In Japan, even the lowest-ranking staff do overtime. It's their way of life. 

All these are first hand explanations from my students. They're mostly from big, well-known Japanese companies. Maybe some smaller companies have different practices. But I can personally testify to Number 5. Heck even in schools, teachers won't stop working till 8 pm and some even 10 pm. They even go to school on Saturdays and Sundays. 

One of my students explained, more than anything Japanese companies value loyalty. Except for No. 2, he said that all other practices emphasizes loyalty. Once a company hires you, whether you're qualified or not or whether you like your job or not, there's social pressure to stay there for the rest of your life, work overtime until you retire and just be contented that your salary will get higher as you get older.


How about you, would you like to work for a Japanese company in Japan?


Check these great posts on working in Japan from Tofugu: 

1. Awful Japanese "Black Companies"

2. Japanese College: The Spring Break of Life

3. The Japanese are Dying to Get to Work (Karoshi)


Watch out for my first e-book for ALT's: How to Survive Your First Weeks in Japan. 
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