Comments on: Overtime in Japan http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/03/21/overtime-in-japan/ From kimono to keitai; research Japanese facts and figures through translated opinion polls and surveys. Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:47:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Isabell http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/03/21/overtime-in-japan/#comment-75806 Isabell Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:41:21 +0000 http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/03/21/overtime-in-japan/#comment-75806 Well, somebody has to read the 80 Million daily newspapers sold in Japan... and they are most definitely not housewives ;) I also heard from Professors here in Japan that Japanese need 5 hours for a task westerners would need 3 hours.. and that there is a lot of coffee drinking in between. Well, somebody has to read the 80 Million daily newspapers sold in Japan… and they are most definitely not housewives ;)

I also heard from Professors here in Japan that Japanese need 5 hours for a task westerners would need 3 hours.. and that there is a lot of coffee drinking in between.

]]> By: Turner http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/03/21/overtime-in-japan/#comment-75631 Turner Mon, 24 Mar 2008 01:53:35 +0000 http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/03/21/overtime-in-japan/#comment-75631 Agreed. The fact that I'm taking time to write this comment at work is testament to that fact. Agreed. The fact that I’m taking time to write this comment at work is testament to that fact.

]]> By: Fredrik http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/03/21/overtime-in-japan/#comment-75624 Fredrik Mon, 24 Mar 2008 01:03:21 +0000 http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/03/21/overtime-in-japan/#comment-75624 It is a basic fact that the quantity of what you achieve is NOT linearly proportional to how many hours you work. Working too long hours just means that you get sloppier and more inefficient (hence wasting your own precious time). In Europe we are talking about reducing working time from the original 8 hours (and I think they did it in France). THAT is they way to go because another basic fact is : we only have one life and that life is not worth wasting on working our entire days. Please wake up and join the 21:th century, Japan... It is a basic fact that the quantity of what you achieve is NOT linearly proportional to how many hours you work. Working too long hours just means that you get sloppier and more inefficient (hence wasting your own precious time).

In Europe we are talking about reducing working time from the original 8 hours (and I think they did it in France). THAT is they way to go because another basic fact is : we only have one life and that life is not worth wasting on working our entire days. Please wake up and join the 21:th century, Japan…

]]> By: Shari http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/03/21/overtime-in-japan/#comment-75065 Shari Fri, 21 Mar 2008 02:44:27 +0000 http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/03/21/overtime-in-japan/#comment-75065 I'm one of those people who does not "believe" but *knows" the Japanese routinely stretch out 4-8 hours of work into 10-12 hour days. I worked in an office for 12 years and say it happen repeatedly, particularly with salesmen. Sometimes that was done by leaving the office to visit customers and spending some time doing "tachiyomi" in convenience stores and at others, it was spent either screwing around in the office or taking (considerably) more work of some small task than was necessary. The inefficiency I witnessed so that the illusion of "working hard" could be played out for the boss's benefit was staggering at times. It was only rivaled by the stunning lack of computer knowledge and how people wasted time painstakingly doing a terrible job because they didn't have even basic Microsoft Word and Excel skills so they did things like try to make flyers or lay out documents using multiple spaces and pre-set tabs rather than style sheets or custom settings. Everything takes a lot longer when you don't know what you're doing. That's not to say that it was always this way in all companies all the time or even in my company with all workers, but it was clear that a lot of what was happening in terms of overtime was either extreme incompetence forcing more time or putting on a show for the boss. I’m one of those people who does not “believe” but *knows” the Japanese routinely stretch out 4-8 hours of work into 10-12 hour days. I worked in an office for 12 years and say it happen repeatedly, particularly with salesmen. Sometimes that was done by leaving the office to visit customers and spending some time doing “tachiyomi” in convenience stores and at others, it was spent either screwing around in the office or taking (considerably) more work of some small task than was necessary. The inefficiency I witnessed so that the illusion of “working hard” could be played out for the boss’s benefit was staggering at times. It was only rivaled by the stunning lack of computer knowledge and how people wasted time painstakingly doing a terrible job because they didn’t have even basic Microsoft Word and Excel skills so they did things like try to make flyers or lay out documents using multiple spaces and pre-set tabs rather than style sheets or custom settings. Everything takes a lot longer when you don’t know what you’re doing.

That’s not to say that it was always this way in all companies all the time or even in my company with all workers, but it was clear that a lot of what was happening in terms of overtime was either extreme incompetence forcing more time or putting on a show for the boss.

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