Daily News

View All News

Japan – Overtime worked by full-time employers hit record high

31 March 2015

Japan has long been known as a place where workers toil for long hours and take few holidays and the latest data from the country’s Labour Ministry has done nothing to alter that stereotype, reports asia.nikkei.com.

The average full-time worker in Japan worked 173 hours of overtime last year, seven hours longer than in 2013, and 36 hours more than 20 years ago. That equates to working nearly an extra 22 eight-hour days in 2014.

Some sectors stood out as particularly demanding. In cargo transport, workers logged 463 extra hours on an annual basis. In automobile manufacturing, the count came to 275 hours. In information services, it was 248 hours. 

Japan's government and some companies are taking measures to curb overtime. The numbers suggest the efforts are still a work in progress. 

There are a number of reasons why controlling labour time is no easy task. One is Japan's lifetime employment system, under which workers are virtually guaranteed job security. This makes it difficult for employers to resort to layoffs in tough times. It also means businesses are more likely to adapt to fluctuations in demand by increasing or decreasing the hours logged by their existing staffers, according to Keiichiro Hamaguchi, Senior Research Director at the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training.

Hisashi Yamada, a Chief Economist at the Japan Research Institute, noted another side effect of lifetime employment: a less-active job market. This dissuades workers from leaving their jobs to look for better ones, even if - as now - they are forced to work longer hours in response to an improving economy and a manpower shortage. Put another way, workers do not have much leverage.

Some experts also point to a widespread belief that longer hours make for more successful careers.  Isamu Yamamoto, a professor at Tokyo's Keio University, conducted a study on college graduates in non-managerial positions. He found that employees who worked 10 hours more per week had a 3% greater chance of being promoted to managerial posts the following year.

Mr Yamamoto noted that in Europe, working longer hours is often considered a sign of low productivity while in Japan, it is still regarded as badge of honour. A Cabinet Office survey found that among workers putting in more than 12 hours a day, over 50% assumed their managers would look favourably upon those who do overtime.

A lack of clearly defined responsibilities also contributes to longer hours, in Mr Yamamoto's view. In the US and Europe, workers are generally free to leave as long as they have finished their assigned tasks. In Japan, the team takes priority; the best workers are expected to pick up the slack for the not-so-efficient. Promotions are the reward for doing so. 

The government has been creating new positions with clear responsibilities and limited working hours. In 2014, it drew up guidelines for its hiring policy and encouraged businesses to follow suit. The thinking is that this way, at least some workers would be able to finish at a consistent time, freeing them up to, say, care for children or elderly parents.

The government also plans to make it mandatory for workers to take at least five paid vacation days per year, starting in the spring of 2016. According to the Labour Ministry, 16% of regular employees do not take even one paid day off, apparently because they feel uncomfortable saddling colleagues with extra work.