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This year, I've seen 2 documentaries on japanese food related subjects. What I found interesting is in both cases there were multiple workers basically doing the same tasks all day every day for up to 30 years with an apprentice learning the trade.
What is different about the Japanese culture that keeps these people performing a small set of well defined tasks for the majority of their lives without losing the workers to drugs or other jobs?
one guy was just making omelettes all day long, another cutting eel and roasting it on a grille. I know for sure I would go crazy after about 2 weeks and leave just to look for something else to do.
(if you haven't streamed "jiro dreams of sushi" it's fascinating to watch, but maybe most people won't perceive job satisfaction as a part of the documentary.)
Nah... Japan has been in an economic recession I think since their bust in 1990... So many suicides there... I bought a book at Goodwill, copyright 2006 - tells all about the problems of Japan.
I worked for Japanese people at a ramen place in LA. They were incredibly strict and was heavily micromanaged. I had to do everything the exact same way each time and I had to read from their embarrassing Engrish script that when interacting with customers.
I have no idea if they were satisfied with their jobs. I doubt it, but they do take their jobs very, very seriously, even if it is only serving tea.
The Japanese work 60+ hours per week and don't believe in work/life balance at all. I'm sure they don't like it, but they do it anyway because they are expected to.
They are the mirror opposite of the Greeks/French/Spanish, etc. who take 5 weeks of vacation minimum and retire at 50.
Japanese work culture is very strict and disciplined. I worked for a company here in the US where I managed our channel re-seller in Japan, so I traveled there 4 times a year minimum for business.
The work ethic + discipline was incredible, when serious problems needed to be worked on, the staff were there from 8:30 AM sometimes until midnight, leaving for home, then arriving back the next morning at 8:30 AM. Of course, breaks were taken, etc
As a visitor, I was escorted out around 7:00 PM to have a beer and dinner.
They believe in a "samurai" philosophy, "attacking" problems and never giving up. They also have respect for their higher-ups and managers in a style I've never seen. It is a very respectful, but demanding business culture.
It's a different culture, that's for sure. Are people satisfied? Not really. The satisfaction is just like anywhere else. The culture generally is very rigid. You are meant to treat people older than you a certain way, although certain offices may be more democratic than ours with respect with giving certain more people chances for advancement. You might have someone who is the head of the department based on the fact that his coworkers voted him there, but because of his age he still has to do the grunt duties expected of the youngest person of the department.
Unlike the US, the pay structure is such that a good portion (maybe 1/4 to 1/3) of the salary is given in semi-annual bonuses. If you are complaining or otherwise not following orders, then that bonus can be cut. There is a minimum amount of vacation given per the government, but the cultural practice is that it's not good form to take more than half of that. If people take it, they might be really secretive about it so as not to hurt the morale of others who aren't taking it.
It's also bad form to leave before your supervisor or the department head. When you do leave, you're supposed to go say goodbye if he or she is still in the office.
Once people get older, it's just like anywhere else. They learn how to milk the system and get around the rules. Vacation isn't taken but travel reimbursement is awesome and not heavily regulated, so they'll sign up for some conference so they can go see a Broadway show afterward and maybe have a fancy meal. That's why they sign up to be the union rep! They also have more freedom to speak their minds because older people are revered.
I work in a Japanese company & have worked for quite a few. Job satisfaction doesn't even come across people's minds, but the ex-pats usually like their jobs. Actually, they say they do, because they're expected to, but the local Japanese hires (usually women) that left Japan because they don't like the life are not fans of the job. My boss personally works from 8 or 8:30am until 1am at night 4 days a week, then he'll leave at 9pm on Fridays to go drinking. He either works on Saturday or goes golfing with upper management, then catches up on work he wasn't able to do on Sunday. He's also on salary so his hours are only compensated from 9-5.
I don't think Japanese people care about job satisfaction, they just do what they're supposed to do (get a job, get married, start a family), and they don't even ask why they do it. The younger generation is starting to question this & it is changing society. I have a friend that started a small bar on his own and left the workforce. He still works late hours, but it's for himself and his wife is the waitress, so he can spend time with her on most days.
Things are changing though. The govt and companies are starting to crack down on excessive overtime. My company in Japan has a strict rule of no overtime after 7:30pm. Of course, the guys just come in earlier so they still can get the work done by 7:30pm. There is one day per week where no one is allowed to work past 5pm, but again this is new, so I don't know how strictly enforced or followed it is. As for holidays, the Japanese have more holidays than we do (it is currently Obon and everybody is off for the week) so they don't feel they should take vacation days, but the ex-pats here do since they don't have the week long holidays in the US.
I was also pretty surprised at how sexist Japanese business culture was. The females in the office (all university educated, some with degrees from good US universities - (Cal, Northwestern, University of Texas, etc) had to "work their way up the ranks" and be subservient to the males in the office. Some of the younger, newer female hires were doing administrative work when they were qualified academically to start as an engineer, in the firm.
I recall one manager asking a young female employee to "get coffee for the visitor" (me) and "accompany the visitor to lunch", etc. Being from the US, this made me quite uncomfortable.
Gee, stinks to be an underappreciated woman in other cultures, I guess. But the American woman has got it way better.
But anyway, when I visited France [4 times] and Jerusalem I often saw other asian types too, like Chinese and Japanese.
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