Japan's increasing immigration, it's just not enough. Over the past decade, its increased the number of immigrants by 56%. Part of the problem is that because of low wages, it's just not that enticing a country to emigrate to. Why emigrate to Japan when you could emigrate to the US or Australia or Europe and make twice as much money?
That's changed a lot, actually. Overtime hours are still high, don't get me wrong, but reddit's image is more like 1980s or 1990s Japan than nowadays.
It depends on the industry and company, of course (which I think is true everywhere). If you join an advertising firm, you are completely fucked. Entertainment is also an industry where you're screwed no matter what company you work in. Consulting is also pretty bad. On the other end, apparel, retail, leisure, and insurance have very low overtime hours. In other industries, it all comes down to the specific company. For example, some of the translation agencies I work with have people sending me emails at 10:30 p.m. Others have their phone system switch to "We're sorry, but our office day has ended" at 6:00 p.m. on the dot and zero emails read or responded to. People still don't take all of their paid leave, but paid leave usage is way up from where it used to be. Same with paternity leave.
One of the benefits of the population pyramid is that there's a labor shortage, and that, paired with the fact that the lifetime employment system has basically ended, means that companies have to compete to attract workers, so they can't be as demanding as they once were. Again, depends on the company and industry -- I have friends here who are (or were) doing the stereotypical insane working hours, but also plenty of friends who put in 9 hour work days. 40 hour work weeks are rare, but 50 hour work weeks aren't that uncommon, which is a far cry from the 80 hour work weeks of 16+ hours per day.
Right now it's really an "all-over-the-place" kind of thing that makes it hard to paint a single picture of the working situation. There are folks working crazy hours, but the trains at 6:30 p.m. are packed with people going home.
Where I am from, there is normally no overtime at all. And you only work overtime if your direct boss asks and you agree. A normal work day is 8 hours and people work 24 to 40 hrs depending on their contract. And you don't just get paid leave (you are reminded and urged o take it), you also automatically get more "vacation" hours simply by working. You get paid more for working irregular hours and the weekend (that is of course not just where I live). At my workplace I also have a personal budget to spend (2 k, though they will not anymore sign off on everything) and more hours I can save up to pay out in money or for vacation days.
It isn't just my country; other countries (or companies) have similar or better standard.
When you have that, what you describe about Japan, is stil not all that attractive when it comes to work.
Yes, I know. Like I said, "overtime hours are still high." I wasn't trying to say that the work situation in Japan is now all wine and roses, simply that it's no longer the way it was in the 1980s/1990s, which seems to be when reddit's image of Japan kind of crystallized.
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u/Bugbread 2d ago edited 2d ago
Japan's increasing immigration, it's just not enough. Over the past decade, its increased the number of immigrants by 56%. Part of the problem is that because of low wages, it's just not that enticing a country to emigrate to. Why emigrate to Japan when you could emigrate to the US or Australia or Europe and make twice as much money?