How foreign talents can thrive in the Japanese evolving corporate world
Japan’s job environment is known to be both fascinating and challenging, as it can be considered as a reflection of the two polar opposites that best describe the country: tradition and modernity.
Starting from the more traditional elements, they are the ones that tend to be scarier to foreigners, as they include some characteristics which differ completely from Western countries; for instance, the lifetime employment concept is still present, even though it’s shrinking.
Another aspect which reflects past strict practices is the very hierarchical structure that can be found in some of Japanese companies.
Nevertheless, in the past few years there has been a real attempt from both the government and the firms to switch to a more Western culture, which gives importance to work-life balance, harmony within the office and hybrid work.
This article will address the recent changes in legislation and office environment that have shaped Japan into one of the most promising countries to start fresh as a foreign employee, as people who move here will gain both competitive advantage and experiences that will last for a lifetime.
Tradition vs Modernity
Japan’s traditional and modern aspects in the workplace create an attractive mix for foreign talents, who can build an admirable curriculum from their staying in a Japan-based company.
First of all, the work culture as a whole is based on ethic: when you get hired in a Japanese firm, you are joining a family, more than joining a company; for this reason, it is expected that employees are dedicated to it and put it first instead of themselves. Therefore, collectivism is often preferred to individualism.
This aspect has a societal feedback: even outside the office, there is a stronger sense of community compared to Western countries and conformism is considered the preferred attribute; there is even a popular saying that seems to confirm it – 出る杭は打たれる (Deru kui wa utareru): “The stake that sticks up gets hammered down.”
The positive side from this characteristic is that group harmony is considered with such a high regard that team-building activities are very common and it’s usual that colleagues go out together for drinks after their shifts, reinforcing the feeling of being part of a family.
Then, another work-related peculiarity is the importance of hierarchy and seniority: in the more traditional companies, there are well-defined roles and chains of command, according to seniority and experience within the company. This system ensures employees’ desire to remain part of the company, in order to gain importance and decision making power as the years pass; a downside of this characteristic is that it doesn’t further innovation, and it can be difficult for new members to get promotions and be apart of discussions.
Fortunately, this system has been changing a lot in the last decades and, especially for companies based in large cities and related to the tech environment, flatter structures are becoming the normality. Nowadays, young talents are aware that they can be heard in case of necessity and can develop ambition for possible promotions, without fearing to challenge members with higher seniority.
Japan’s population is widely known for being hardworking and this characteristic is centuries old, as it can be traced back in history.
As a matter of fact, during the Meiji Era (1868-1912), the country was getting left behind from Western forces, so it experienced the need for modernization and economic growth; since these are phenomenons which are not easy to stimulate, they required hard work from citizens.
Continuing in this effort to tracing back the hard-working gene in the Japanese population, another stimulus was the situation after WWII, as the GDP had fallen by 53%, so people had to work even hard to bring Japan back to its original glory.
Overtime shits were so rooted into the mentality of the workforce that there was the belief that employees had to stay at the office until the boss left as a sign of loyalty to the company.
It’s safe to say that those days are over, since new legislations have been passed as a way to protect workers.
How New Legislations Changed the Work Culture
Nowadays, employees’ rights are widely protected by the current legislation; for example, working overtime is not as easy as it was in the past.
According to the Labor Standards Act, people can work for a maximum of 8 hours per day and 40 per week; therefore, every hour worked after those 40 is considered overtime.
Then, the “Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote Work Style Reform”, which became effective in 2019, states how many hours employees are allowed to work overtime: they can’t be in office for more than 15 hours overtime weekly, 45 monthly.
Lately, Japan has really been trying to improve the work-life balance for its population, and recent data from Statista shows this effort. The table below shows the decline in the number of hours worked by Japanese citizens from 2012 to 2021.
Source: www.statista.com
Embracing Remote Work
The government’s commitment to help improving the work-life balance comes after years of “karoshi”, a word which was used to describe death from overworking; in order to prevent this phenomenon there has been an increased effort to implement flexible ways of working and change types of compensation and promotion.
First of all, periods of remote-working are becoming a requirement for people seeking a job, but fortunately Japanese companies have been implementing them for a few years, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Working from home, or locations that are not the usual office, provides employees with a way of spending time in new environments and saving the long hours of commuting.
Therefore, people that have the wish to move to Japan for a professional experience know that they can enjoy these benefits, as companies take them for granted too and care for their workers’ well-being.
The recruiting company Robert Walters carried out a study to discover the extent to which the presence of remote-work impacts the decision candidates to join a company and, as the chart below shows, 59% of them considers it a deciding factor.
Source: www.robertwalters.com
A New Compensation Model
Merit-based promotions are becoming the new norm and seniorities are starting to lose importance. They are becoming more common because they allow faster innovation; for this reason, they are being implemented in tech companies and startups, since they need their firms to be innovative.
The interesting fact is that they are getting popular also in the biggest Japanese companies: for instance, the giants Rakuten and Sony have started implementing merit-based career advancements to increase competitiveness and productivity; these objectives are easily achieved under this system as people are willing to work more and be more productive to receive a bonus, while seniority-based compensation only furthered the lifetime employment concept and led newer members of a company to feel demotivated.
The Rise of Startups
All new practices listed so far have been enabled by the rise of a new phenomenon: the startup culture; in the last few years, Japan has experienced a rise in the establishment of startup firms. These companies have been developing around big cities like Tokyo and Osaka because they represent the financial and technological centers of the country. These startups tend to be more Western and internationally-focused, so they adopt policies and practices that give importance to the well-being of the employee.
Thanks to organizations like these, foreign talents moving to Japan will enjoy a lifestyle enviable by people of all nationalities.
In conclusion, the country’s mix of technology and finance make it an attractive destination for all people with the desire of having a professional experience abroad, who can be reassured on the fact that the Japanese legislation and companies themselves will provide them with a balanced lifestyle and countless career opportunities.
What Hello World Japan can do for you
My name is Luca Innocenti and I’m working for Hello World Japan, a Tokyo-based career assistant startup, currently looking for foreign professionals in the IT department. If you enjoyed reading this article or you’re interested in learning more about Japan’s work environment and culture, please subscribe to our Substack and visit Hello World Japan’s website.
The article is also available in podcast form on Substack, Spotify, and Apple Podcast.
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