Job Discussion Forums

matador · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 281

http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,7369,1687925,00.html

Hope this provides some good content for your free conversation classes....

Brooks · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1369 Location: Sagamihara

or they are good at pretending.
I think the right phrase should be `they put in a lot of hours at the office,
waiting for their sempai to leave`.

Some people really do work hard, though.

BradS · Joined: 05 Sep 2004 Posts: 173 Location: Tokyo, Japan

I agree. Especially with they style of working here. Time at the office doesn't mean working harder. I'd say they're probably worse at time management in Japan than other countries.

bshabu · Joined: 03 Apr 2003 Posts: 200 Location: Kumagaya

Nismo · Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 520

There has already been extensive research into the work environments of America vs. Japan. The conclusion was that Americans work less, but have a considerably higher output, meaning they are more productive with their time.

Japanese are very hesitant to accept that information, though.

kitano · Joined: 18 Nov 2004 Posts: 86

I think this attitude creates really incompetent managers. Make a mistake? No problem the staff will stay to 2am to fix it. No idea how to manage the work? No problem the staff won`t take vacations. Managers have little accountability in many ways.

abufletcher · Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 1:59 am Post subject:

A couple of months ago the Japanese members of the department (the majority) were complaining that the non-Japanese teachers didn't have as heavy a workload and that they (the Japanese) had to spend endless hours in meetings.

Well after sitting through endless hours of entirely pointless (and unproductive) meetings over my 10 years, I just couldn't hold it in any longer and informed them all that I could do all they work they did in 1/10th the time and it fact wouldn't have needed any of the "meetings" they needed to do the same (or better) job.

They definitely did not want to hear this but I kept on with several actual examples, for example, when one of them insisted she needed a whole month to write 10 MC grammar items. She seemed incredulous when I informed her that that was the sort of thing I'd have finished in a single hour -- tops!!! Then I explained how when I first joined the department it was taking two teams of 5 teachers each nearly 8 months of almost weekly meetings and work to produce the English portion of our entrance exams. But that now two native speakers have taken over the job it takes us only a single month to produce 2 versions of the exam -- and the quality is much better.

Still, I understand that from their persective there just isn't any other way to get work done. So I've agreed to teach an extra L/S class and they agree not to bitch about having to attend meetings. We're each doing what we're good at / used to.

pathfindercdn · Joined: 05 Jul 2005 Posts: 1

Could not agree more. I am in somewhat of a unique position to observe how the average Japanese person spends their time at work. I am an in-house English teacher for a large Japanese engineering firm. I have my 5-6 students per day and spend the time im not actually teaching doing what we call contact time. I sit at my desk right in the middle of the office, not partitioned, not hidden away but right in the thick of if with everyone else.
I cannot believe the amount of slacking off that goes on. I'm talking about the majority of men who must take at least 15-20 smoke breaks a day!! The women who have msn/yahoo open continuously throughout the day. Somehow when it times for their class alot of them on suspiciously very busy with some paperwork hehe I love that Very Happy

In my humble opinion... yeah they may work longer hours but I will openly laugh in the face of anyone who tells me that the Japanese work harder than the average westerner. I'm now two cents lighter Smile