Working long hours is a way of life in Japan.
So much so, that some occasionally die from it. Karoshi is a term that
means death by overwork. So why are people working so hard?
And can it be fixed? Japan has some of the longest
working hours in the world. Nearly a quarter of Japanese
companies have their employees work more than 80 hours
of overtime per month. Those extra hours are often unpaid. Today, Japan’s corporate culture is
driven by the so-called salaryman. The salaryman is defined by
his loyalty to his company and expected to spend his entire
career working for the same firm. Not only does he work long hours in
the office, but it’s also assumed he’ll participate in after-work activities
too, like drinking with colleagues. And they’re not taking enough time off. In 2017, one survey found that despite
being entitled to 20 days off per year, Japanese workers left 10 of those days unused -
topping every other country in the survey. You don’t have to be in the confines of corporate
walls to feel the impact of its work culture. It’s 3am Thursday morning right now
in Tokyo, I'm in the area of Ginza. Every few minutes I see a man
wearing a suit, holding a briefcase. The nation’s work ethic dates back to what’s
referred to as Japan’s economic miracle, which was its dramatic economic
growth beginning in the 1950s, which propelled it to become the
world’s second-largest economy. Inside Japan’s corporations, the
culture emphasizes the success of a company as a whole to be more
important than any single individual, which might explain why one study found that
63% of Japanese felt guilty for taking paid leave. But perhaps more concerning is this: Long work hours don’t necessarily
mean high productivity. In fact, Japan has the lowest productivity
amongst the G7 nations. Earlier I mentioned the term karoshi -
it means death by overwork. It’s legally recognized by the
government and usually is marked by a heart attack, stroke or
suicide due to stress. There’s hundreds of cases of karoshi reported
annually, although some argue these cases are underreported and that the real number
could exceed that by up to 10 times. An employee of the advertising firm
Dentsu jumped to her death in 2015. The cause was said to have been
depression caused by overwork. The case generated widespread attention and
renewed calls to change the long working hours and illegal unpaid overtime
highly common in Japan. The firm was fined for violating labor standards
because she was reportedly forced to work more than 100 hours
of overtime per month. The company’s CEO even
resigned over the controversy. After the death, Dentsu made
some changes within the company. One of them? The lights in the office now turn off at 10pm every
night in an effort to force employees to leave. Both the government and companies are now actively
trying to reduce the number of working hours here. And there are some
early signs of hope. Japan’s government has considered several
initiatives to curb the number of hours spent at the office, including making it mandatory
to take at least five vacation days a year and requiring a “rest” period between
the end of one day and the start of another. In 2016, a new holiday “Mountain Day” was started, bringing Japan’s number of annual public holidays to 16. And in 2017, the government launched
an initiative called Premium Fridays, in which it encouraged companies to
allow their employees to leave at 3pm on the last Friday of the month, promoting
consumer spending and less time in the office. But one study found that less than 4% of employees in
Japan actually left early on the first Premium Friday. Which is why despite these initiatives,
a cultural challenge still looms. Since Japan’s culture emphasizes
the group over the individual, well, no one wants to be the
first one to leave the office. And there’s another reason that there’s
pressure on people to work hard. Japan’s economy is in danger. And in order to maintain its massive size,
Japan needs to put in the hours. Japan lost its spot as the world’s
second-largest economy to China in 2011, a title that it had previously
held for 42 years. Japan is dealing with
a labor crisis. Its population is aging fast and its birth rate is in
decline. That means its total population is going down. And in the next 50 years, it’s projected
to shrink by nearly a third. The population is expected to go from 127
million in 2015, to just 88 million by 2065. There’s two likely ways the nation can compensate
for the labor shortage - immigrants or robots. Japan has always been less
inclined to accept immigrants. In fact, its percentage of foreign workers is tiny
compared to other nations of large economies. So without more immigrants, it’s
looking to robotics to fill in the gap. Its robotics industry has spanned
from hospitality to manufacturing, and now even reaching farms
by creating robots that milk cows. But whether technology
could open the door for a better work-life balance for Japan’s
workforce still remains to be seen. Hey guys, it's Uptin, thanks for watching. For more of our videos, check out 'What does
equal pay mean for the economy?' here. And 'Will robots take our jobs?' here. We're also taking suggestions for future CNBC
Explains, so leave your comments in the section below. And while you're at it,
subscribe to our channel.
