"This year, we showed the movie 'Hayabusa' to our freshmen, and within one month there was a guy who quit," the man, who works for the personnel division of a company listed in the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, tells Shukan Gendai (Aug 4). "The movie noted that our company was a supplier to JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and he had hopes of being assigned to JAXA and working on aerospace development. But we are primarily a manufacturer of electronics and he was assigned to a job with no connection to JAXA. When he asked to resign, the expression on his face looked as if he felt he'd been cheated."
Barely three months since the year's crop of fresh new hirees joined their companies, they've been quitting in droves. Their reasons vary widely, but all point to the fact that commitments don't mean what they used to.
Take young Mr A, age 23, who joined one of the megabanks in April.
"I'm a graduate of the University of Tokyo, and they hired me to count banknotes?" he asked incredulously. His resignation letter was submitted within a month of his joining. During training, he was annoyed by the simplistic and repetitive tasks, and felt his superior was a buffoon. Finally, while being taught how to count banknotes, he blew up.
He'd had hopes of researching money markets or corporate results, or perhaps a job related to investment funds -- not sitting at a teller window serving individual customers.
Young Mr B, also age 23, had obtained a degree from an elite U.S. university and was hired by a major insurance firm.
"I expected that I was brought in as part of the strategy to hire globalized human resources," he mutters. "But instead of the Tokyo headquarters, I was assigned to Tottori! Can you imagine, someone with my background being made to work for some old geezer, where I'd spend my time calling on small- and medium-sized businesses to peddle insurance policies?"
He couldn't either. He walked off the job before taking so much as single step in the direction of Tottori Prefecture.
It's stating the obvious, but individuals as those introduced above do not take kindly to the typical corporate approach of making young staff members start their careers at low-level apprenticeships.
In Mr C's case, however, it was being assigned to his company's Nagoya branch, where he could no longer play basketball with his teammates, that he couldn't handle.
"Unlike the way things were before, young people today grow up using personal computers and cell phones," says personnel consultant Shigeyuki Jo, president of an outfit named Joe's Laboratory. "One can say they are brought up doing only the things they like. For example, before when the family only had a single TV set in the living room, in order to watch programs they liked, they were forced to communicate with other family members. But now they've got PCs in their own rooms, and don't need to communicate anymore. This is tied to the current phenomenon of associating only with those with whom they share common interests.
"So to them, the most important things in life are their own interests and circles, and work is secondary."
Another problem child, Mr E (age 24), was unable to separate from his parents.
"One day, he called the office of his company, a marketer of outdoor goods, to say he wasn't coming in because he caught a cold. I told him to take it easy and get better," relates his manager. "But not long after his call, I got another one from his parents, complaining that what I'd said to him was akin to telling him not to come back to work. I never saw him again."
These kinds of overprotective parents have become so numerous in Japan, it's said that 5,000 a year have PTA meetings at universities.
"It's become quite common to see parents deliver their child's letter of resignation to the office," says labor and social security attorney Daisuke Nozaki. "They are so overprotective, it gets to the point that their children are incapable of doing anything on their own."
© Japan Today
116 Comments
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anglootaku
Spoilt brats with 0 life experience expecting things handed on a silver platter in the work place.. start a business be a man..
HonestDictator
I know what its like to have knowledge, skills, and experience in a field and then be put in a position where you don't get to use what you've trained for. Eventually all that hard studying and knowledge starts to be lost because its not being used. Many of the comments here are spot on. The companies need to get with it and some of the new employee's need to take a step back and figure out that they may not be worth as much as they think. Very interesting times to see where this will all go in the end.
motytrah
I can't think of a western bank that would put a 4 year grad at a teller window. It's a career track for 2 year degree grads (or HS) at best. They would put them in a bankers desk to sell, explain and fulfill various financial products, or in a back end office where they would perform some sort of analytic task. Western insurance companies often put college grads in Junior underwriting positions or regional processing centers.
ubikwit
you studied economics at harvard or ucberkeley and get a job with a bank and they put you at a teller window?
sorry, no matter how bad the economy is, that isn't going to fly with most people.
it seems that these companies think that because the economy is so bad they can hire graduates of top level universities and put them in menial positions.
i'm glad to see these new hires show the corporate cretins that their mode of thinking is out of sync, to say the least.
but this won't improve anything, as the human resources people at these employers will just start telling people that they are over qualified for the positions they are applying, just like in the usa.
on the other hand, the guy at the top of this story wasn't applying to be a bank teller, which is a job for a high school graduate, basically.
so there is something amiss here.
LH10
thats what you get for paying so much at the money grabbing universities now a days... just so that you can become some rich slob lol
gelendestrasse
There are always malcontents or slackers and the press will always find them. It would seem they are rather pathetic and to be pitied. Even in the US or Europe you're going to have to prove yourself before you're given greater responsibility. I guess these guys have proven something but I doubt they are going to like the consequences.
Kabukilover
Oops, wrong button. Let"s trying again.
Good point Guy-jin. This article is typical of the Japanese popular press: Unsupported generalization followed anecdotes.
Kabukilover
A+b/a=a/b≡?
Really?!! I think you are misinformed. Do you have any clue as to which country has truly transformed "TQL and stuff"? TQL by the way... is a military term, I think you meant TQM or rather Quality Assurance.
A+b/a=a/b≡?
While the "western" view of 'How we do it is better' might be Japan's answer, I would not expect it to come in a form we think it should be. I am leaning more towards a hybrid form of management applications whereby recruits are utilized more wisely. But, in my opinion it has to begin with the festering education received in Japanese universities, where from my experience, diplomas are nothing more than a ticket-stub reflecting 2~4 years of summer break before entering the corporate world. Entering a company means being re-educated to fit the mold and ignoring most if not all of the lectures received at university. This is a necessary step, going to the root-cause, to make true change.
nihoncritic
Japan is leaning more for job satisfaction than job stability. In the past, having a job is better than having none at all, but now new hires wish to utilize their talents and feel frustrated that they cannot contribute on a higher level. I had a wonderful opportunity to sit down with a COO of Viacom for lunch one time and he told me that the time for empowering youth is now. They are digital natives as opposed to immigrants from older generations who need to catch up with modern technologies. They know the trends, what is popular, and what really resonates with younger people. It's perfectly fine to have a older boss, so long as he or she understands what is at stake in the future. The worst kind of management is one which is stuck in the past and refuses to change due to selfish or misguided reasons. Japan is definitely slow in this regard but there is still some hope in its auto industry and even its traditional electronic companies. Hitachi for example is transitioning to infrastructure building over consumer electronics. The only issue is whether management can swallow its pride and treat young employees as equals and individuals with great potential instead of toady grunts who can take a beating.
ReformedBasher
@Ramzel
Agree with what you say. I'm tired of brats (met in Japan and abroad) who think they are God's gidt to whatever field they work in because they went to univeristy. In actual fact, quality of universities around the world has dropped dramtically as they are no longer centers of learning and more and more diploma mills out to make a fast buck.
Give me a real world performer who taught themselves the ropes, and has been through hard times, over some snotty nose kid anyday.
My last boss in Japan was like this. He soon found his real abilities and perceived abilities were 2 different things. And, yes, he came from a famous university.
Same thing back home, kids fresh out of uni with no imagination, a big ego and bad attitude towards work are not idea employees.
ReformedBasher
After seeing how clueless and lazy the new hires are back home, there's a bit sense starting at the bottom. If you have real skills (and not just think you have), you will get ahead. If not, then move on.
Plenty of old hires should be sacked too though, particularly entrenched (untouchable) management.
My expereince is that the small-medium companies "usually" have the most capable staff. The big corporations are hoplesss because so many people hide behind the company/blindly follow meaningless if not harmful directives, except for the few elite staff (usually branded as troublemakers, when they are actually troubleshooters) that keeps things running. This applies to any country.
nath
@fupayme
First of all, Japanese companies, (not talking foreign firms, Japanese only) do not care what you can do, what university you graduated from(except maybe Todai) or how good you are... They are looking for a stereo typical Japanese person, (probably Male depending on position) who looks, acts, walks, talks and quacks like Japanese... PERIOD... They don't care if you are Linus Torvalds or a top Google Engineer.
Yes, you will be counting notes. Japanese companies are still 30-years in the past. Yes, they picked up some American habits, but only the ones about firing people, not any kind of TQL stuff, matter of fact, you can absolutely forget any kind of "Google" office environment, with ping-pong tables, laundry rooms, and cappuccino's on tap. Japanese companies today still survive of Zaibatsu, work quality and ingenuity are still awol...
nath
A gross generalization.
Not all University degrees are a cakewalk, to earn.
sfjp330
Many people start their own business for the wrong reasons. Running your own business is risky. half to two-thirds of the business will fail within first three-four years. Main reason people want start your own business is that you would want to make a lot of money or maybe that you wouldn't have to answer to anyone else. If so, you'd better think again. Many people have poor management skills and lack of capital as the main reason for failure. If you have management skills and passion and love for what you'll be doing, and strongly believe, based on educated study and investigation, that your product or service would fulfill a real need in the marketplace. Failures don't defeat you. You learn from your mistakes, and use these lessons to succeed the next time around. Ethics are important and show this in your honesty, integrity, and interactions with others. You get along with and can deal with all different types of individuals. Unless you recognize what you don't do some things well, and seek help, business owners may soon face disaster.
fupayme
@Ramzel
Wrong wrong wrong
Your play it safe, take thing slow approach is why corp Japan is failing globally. You know why the economy is hurting right now? its because people aren't taking risks, because they are scared. Individuals don't want to invest, companies are cutting back, and especially Japan, they are just doing the same old regurgitated system from 20-30 years ago
Everything moves faster now, which means people have to be just as fast. Especially the youth of today, they are wired in and connected 24/7. You no longer need someone to hold your hand and teach you how to do the basics, when you can just google and learn the information on your own at a much quicker pace.
Is it risky? Sure. Can you make errors? Yup, but guess what, that is how you learn. No one has ever taught me anything which I couldn't have looked up myself and easily figured out in 5 seconds. We aren't talking brain surgery here, we are talking counting banknotes and doing remedial tasks.
I graduated from a top US university 6 years ago, came back to Japan, very energetic and enthusiastic, landed a job at a very reputable company, and guess what? Quit after 2 years. 2 years of doing a brainless task, with no real opportunity to give any creative insight. My bosses and so called Sempai's blew off all my suggestions, and the few times they kinda liked what they heard, they ended up using it and taking all the credit. So yeah guess what I quit and started my own company
Nothing I learned in that 2 year process prepared me for running my own business. Sure it was bumpy the first year, but I had my brains, www.google.com, social networking, and my balls. Now 4 years later I make well over 6 figures and only hire people who think very far outside of the box. People who are constantly pushing into the fringes, always voicing their ideas, and Im there to listen and work with them to keep staying ahead of the pack. I don't teach anyone the basics, because I expect them to learn on their own and pick it up very quickly. And if they can't do that, I let them go
So don't say Economy is bad, you should be lucky to have any job, and just suck it up. Those are all just excuses. Because there are people and companies out there who are making money and growing in this so called "recession" and they aren't doing it by playing it safe
Oh and your McDonalds example is completely unrealistic. That might have happened 50-60 years ago, but it doesn't happen today. No one in 2012, who wants to get into a executive position at McDonalds, goes in and applies to flip burgers, while thinking "ok in 15 years I'll be store manager, and in 30 I'll finally be at the corp HQ !"
That is how the typical Japanese company does things, and we can obviously see how that is complete fail in this day and age
Riceland
I believe that all of them did the right thing to change japan. Parents are important because without them no one will exist, so I agree with Mr C. No person with great skills should kiss butt all their lives and people in japan is realizing that as well. I hope that everyone in the world would have jobs they like.
ka_chan
Follow your bliss.
Elbuda Mexicano
Bravo! Japan INC. is finally coming around?? Yes, go to one of the best universities in Japan, the USA, etc..and be asked to count papers?? To wash windows? etc..Of course these idiots running these big Japanese companies think that these younger Japanese will just bow, take it up the wazoo as they did in their generation, but NO! Sorry, many younger Japanese understand what the OUTSIDE world, the freedom etc..is like, so do they want to grow up like slave saraiman??? My guess is a simple HELL NO!! Can we blame them?? Of course not, so the old geezers running some of these companies better wake up and smell the coffee, or ocha before the best Japanese workers just take off to rival companies from the USA, Europe, China etc..
Ramzel
Whilst I agree that these new grads were not used to their full potential, people have to face the harsh realities. The economy in Japan and world wide is not in great shape - secondly, people need to learn actual work to understand an organization. I bet dollars to donuts that the employees were not going to be doing their respective tasks for the rest of their lives at the company. It is a type of training.
I`ve seen a lot of young applicants who have little to no experience and want "manager" positions, positions where they can make executive decisions.
I am sorry to say, but that`s not how it works - you need experience in some area first. If it is a menial job, be thankful you have one. They are merely training you for bigger and better things in the future.
Lets take McDonalds as an example. Maybe not the most liked company, but a little known fact is that a large portion of their executives today started as burger flippers, promoted to store manager and went corporate from there... menial job at first, yes, did it work for them, yes... very well...
SonnyInAz
Sooo.. my question is, when the students are interviewing for a job with a company, do they interview for a "position" or just for work within the company. Seems to me that if the position were clear to both employer and candidate this wouldn't happen in the first place....
Frank Vaughn
Just got around to reading this article: How to deal with a student sleeping in class
Certainly give credence to the posters above who argue that the kids get such low level jobs because the degree isn't worth the paper it's printed on.
nath
I am with Cleo and people that think like her.
A lot to be learned and experience to be gained to work the bottom for 3-6 months. Used to be common when I was in IT, regardless of position you were hired for you worked your first few months as an Operator.
Also agree that many companies hire people so that they can claim we got x-staff from Y-University.
nath
This is Japan... I wonder what he was expecting...? Unless he got hired on with a foreign firm, he's going to count a lot of notes before he gets any real work with a JN company...
But on the other hand, since he graduated from Todai, he can afford to quit anytime, because there will always be another JN company to hire him, at least while he's young, regardless of whether he actually learned anything at all at Todai... Matter of fact, he could probably get by on that Todai acceptance letter alone, without diploma....
cleo
He wasn't hired to count banknotes. But if he's expected to take on a managerial position, he needs to know first-hand what the hoi polloi are spending their time doing. Mr. A demonstrated that as a Todai grad, he considered himself too good for the hoi polloi. Definitely not managerial material. He did right to resign.
FernandoUchiyama
For me both are wrong. A graduate of University of Tokyo should have never been hired to count banknotes... And the guy also could have been more patient.
nath
this is sad to see that the young people do not have the ability to take what they get and make something out of nothing. i see that the young people are very spoiled.
DoLittleBeLate
It's useless to argue apples and oranges.
Universities (the decent ones) teach the underlying basics, tools, theories, modern learning techniques. Experience shows how things turn out in real life at the time it was observed. Both are needed for success.
Every day I'm surrounded by geezers pretending to be physicists who are battling 60 year old problems because they can't code, do math nor check English white paper databases in case somebody already forked over a nice tidy formula for their heartburn.
Age does not equal experience nor excellence. Best way to top is to go meekly through those piles of books, and then acquire experience based on that knowledge. And absolutely to hold on to that knowledge in case some ancient buffoon tries to make you into his own shriveled image of a proven failure.
techall
So these clowns come out of university with ton of theory and no practical experience and they immediately want to be put in charge. No thought of "work your way up". I don't see where any of them sat down with his superior "buffoon" (who probably has 30+ years experience) and discuss his advancement possibilities and schedule. So where are they now? Did any of them step right into their dream senior management position with another major company? If any of them came to me with this sorry tale, I would not hire him.
nath
This to me, sounds like the hope of the future. When the majority of graduates feel this way, we are on our way to a different civilization. It couldn't be worse than the ever more greedy one that drives most execs now. No more blindly following orders suicide pilots.
ojiiu812badboy
Wrong or right, at least they're making decisions. Over the years self-confidence will grow and employers may realize that not all new employees are peons, And most of all, this generation's demands might break the cycle of those dreadful dark suits going from work to the bars, to the Izakayas, to the snacks, then maybe back to their neglected (Providing the wife comes to pick them up at 3:00a.m.) homes then back to work. I agree, the way things are, the system needs an overhaul.
Patrick McCormick
I wonder how much longer it will be before there's facial tissues in interviewers' and academic advisors' offices in Japan. That's already endemic here in the States. Children grow up believing it is OK to be 10th place and get rewarded for even nominal effort. And when such nominal effort doesn't cut it, they can't understand why and break down. Then the overprotective parents come into the office to DEMAND to know why THEIR LITTLE POONUM could be rejected. sigh Grow a spine. Gotta pay your dues. I've spent 10 years at my company and I'm finally in a position to dictate research direction and ideas. And you know what? I'm damn glad my company didn't let me climb higher, faster, because I wouldn't have been able to handle it.
nath
Funny, at my bank, all the staff, even the branch president, is required to help at the teller stations when there is a need (and they do). How does someone know how to use the teller system, company procedures, and answer any questions if they do not do the work themselves at first? I am not sure about others, but I learn best when doing something, not looking at a book. I expect someone at the bank to spend at least six months in the teller position so when I go in, I get the same consistent service, and my questions get answered quickly.
nath
I am wondering the same thing. Maybe he is one of the many who jumped before telling JT his reason.
Poor joking aside, I agree with the sense that if you get hired just after graduating, you should still work the entry positions for a while. I would understand if you came from a university and was hired, and five years later, you are still a teller, you have a right to be upset (if you can prove you know what you are doing). However, Just because you have some of the most expensive 8 1/2 x 11 paper hanging on the wall, does not mean that you will be a senior associate of any company without proving you know how to do the ABC's of the "grunt work". I am about to graduate myself, but do not expect to be handed a senior position immediately. I know that I will have to start at the bottom and show that I did not buy/cheat my way through college. Plus, last I checked no two separate companies have the exact same policies, procedures, layout, and cute secretary (unless they're twins) anywhere which means that unless the company hiring you is also the same exact place you studied every day, things will be different.
As for the relocation, if they give me fair warning, some compensation (at least one week in a moderate hotel while I find a place), and a brochure of the local places to visit, I have no problem. Relocating a family is not as hard as many say it is; go out by yourself, find a place, tie things up at the old place, then move the family.
2020hindsights
No, but these are foreign companies. My question would be: what happened to them once they resigned. Because I don't see them getting anything different if they went to another Japanese company.
Now if they moved to foreign company my hat would be off to these guys. But I fear they either were out of employment or went to another Japanese company.
JoshuYaki
Excellent use of the word "bufoon." Very undervalued word.
Virtuoso
Management was probably shocked when their employees returned to Japan and advised the company to lay off all its workers and outsource everything to China, which is what American MBA programs basically teach. So much for "skills and acumen."
hatsoff
I remember a young employee telling me how he'd studied marketing at university, and how he'd told the job interviewer at his company of his interest in marketing. They stuck him in accounting.
And Ken Fukushima (Japanese-American president of Airbus Japan) told a story in a business seminar of a Japanese company that used to allow its employees to study for MBAs in the USA. The company didn't make use of those employees' new-found skills and acumen, and they noticed a rise in staff turnover. Did they change their structure to make use of these new skills and motivate their employees? Hell no, they closed down the program.
Japan needs to change.
Frank Vaughn
Perhaps the young men in the article could take a page from my father's career book. He was a career NCO in the military and about once a year or so his division was assigned a brand new O-1 officer from either the academy or OCS. My father told me how it was the O-1s who came to him or the other senior NCOs and learned from their subordinates that were the fastest promoted. The ones who complained about their entry-level duties and refused to learn from the highly experienced underlings were the one most unhappy and around the longest.
So the advice to these young men is to find the highly experienced underling in your department, honestly befriend them and then proceed to learn as much about your company and department from them as fast as you can and chances are you'll be promoted to where you want to be in no time.
Like a poster above said "Wax on, Wax off"
Noliving
But see that is the problem they are being put in the wrong entry level jobs. For example you don't take a computer science graduate and put them in an entry level secretarial job, you put them in an entry level programming job.
For example for Mr. A you don't put him at a teller job you put him at an entry level Fund Account job like this one from Gemini Fund Accountant:
Purpose: The Fund Accountant I performs the functions as needed for the accurate and timely calculation of the Net Asset Value (NAV) for assigned funds of Gemini Fund Services, LLC ("GFS"), a wholly owned subsidiary of NorthStar Financial Services Group, LLC. This position must also meet all standards for fund accounting including cash reconciliation, NAV reporting, and maintaining a 99.8% or better departmental efficiency rate for NASDAQ reporting.
Essential Functions: Day to day accounting functions for assigned mutual funds Update and monitor daily trading, general ledger activity and pricing of funds Preparation and reconciliation of daily trial balances for assigned funds Reconciliation of fund records to custodian, transfer agent and portfolio groups Preparation of daily and monthly reconciliations, and periodic auditor requests Assist with coverage of other funds and projects as needed
Requirements Knowledge/Skills: Proficient with Microsoft Office software including Word, Excel, and Outlook Good oral and written communication skills Effective problem solving skills Careful attention to detail Ability to work effectively both individually and within a team environment Ability to reach goals and deadlines Ability to identify and effectively communicate issues affecting assigned funds Ability to handle multiple tasks and meet stringent deadlines without sacrificing quality Organizational skills Deadline and detail oriented
Education: Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics or business Minimum of six credits in accounting required
Experience: Prior mutual fund accounting experience a plus Equivalent education and experience will be considered.
INFOWARSJAPAN
Employers know that Japanese universities are a JOKE these days (gone downhill since the 70s). "I graduated from Todai." "That's nice. Now make me a cup of coffee."
NeoJamal
Yes, but that doesn't answer why a grad who probably studied corporate finance and portfolio management is counting money at your local bank or a pilot is checking-in passenger luggage at the airport does it? My grandfather entered National Rail straight out of uni and scrubbed toilets for the first few months. What's going on here.
blendover
Some of the examples of new hires quitting in droves given in this article are selected to make the reasons look lame, but this is not the real reason for the majority. The real reason is that these young salarymen are getting put through the ringer like never before. But with a big difference. They don't have anything like the same opportunities that their loyal forbears did. Salaries down, bonuses down, pensions down, promotion no longer a matter of seniority but performance. Why should they want to spend 70 hrs a week on mundane tasks with little opportunity to display the kind of performance that could get them promotion especially when there are very few opportunities for promotion anyway? These guys are playing smart. What's the point in waking up 10 years down the track and realising you've been screwed?
Fadamor
And what do you think those graduates are doing to earn their pay check while they're in the "training program"? They're working the entry-level banking positions so they know exactly WHAT it is that gets done by those people when they're expected to start managing them. As I mentioned in my post above, a degree by Todai means almost nothing in the real world. All it means is that there is a piece of paper on your wall that says you can finish something (university) that you started. You don't REALLY start learning about your chosen profession until you've actually started working in it. Think about it, if everyone who graduated Todai was destined for upper management right out of university, then you'd have the "too many chiefs, not enough indians" syndrome. I don't see the existing management retiring out of the kindness of their hearts so that the college graduates can take over, so the college graduates are in for a big shock the first time they expect something to be handed to them based solely on where they graduated from. Out of every 100 graduates of ANY college, MAYBE ten are destined for upper management - but not before they've worked their way up through the other levels. The only exceptions are those who go into business for themselves and bypass the whole "corporate ladder" thing.
NeoJamal
No, I would expect him to be given his own platoon command at the earliest convenience. What Japan Inc. does is the equivalent of assigning an O-1 grade officer as a fireteam leader for a whole year.
From what I understand, most major western investment and commercial banks have good graduate training programs that facilitate team working, communication and skill development in respective specialized roles. Why is a Todai grad counting bank like a bank clerk?
NeoJamal
No, I would expect him to be given his own platoon command at the earliest convenience. What Japan Inc. does is the equivalent of making an O-1 grade officer become a fireteam leader for a whole year.
Fadamor
Newsflash to pampered newhires: Getting good grades in a university - even one such as Todai - does NOT prepare you for the real world. You. Have. No. Clue. You don't know how the world operates, and you don't have any worldy experience that might make you stand out from the others. As such you will NOT be dictating which positions you will be filling nor WHERE those positions will be located. This isn't just a phenomenon in Japan, this is EVERYWHERE. Continue to quit in a huff when they don't make you a manager right out of college. After your fourth or fifth resignation, it may start to sink in that the only way you'll start a job higher in "the food chain" is if you start your own business.
malfupete
No idea what the job posting said or if these people were mislead.. I do think that these people certainly have a sense of entitlement. Straight out of university with no work experience and they expect to start working on capital markets and analyzing corporate performances??? yeah right
Thunderbird2
Would you put a young 2nd Lieutenant out of Sandhurst in command of a tank batallion? No, so why put a graduate in a responsible position as soon as he is employed?
People need experience, need to feel their way into the job, not just turn up and expect to be handed the keys to the Enterprise. Real life isn't a 1980s film about success and fast cars.
NeoJamal
At least one major Japanese airline does something similar to new pilots, they are assigned to checking passengers at airports. Plain dumb.
NeoJamal
Welcome to Japan
If you are a bright Finance/Economics grad from a top university and want to pursue a career in finance with a major Japanese investment bank, you will be initially assigned as a teller.
What a waste of time for good talent Japan. This is why no Japanese bank is in the bulge bracket
fupayme
Thunderbird2
who says you can't learn the ropes while being in a position that also fuels your ambition?
Just because someone knows what they want and won't settle for less doesn't make them arrogant. If they don't have any dire responsibilities that need a steady salary, maybe its better to quit and find something that challenges you
Obviously the Japanese method of recruiting / training is failing, or else Japan would still be number 1
Instead Japan dropped the ball, and thought the gravy train was gonna keep coming.
Learning the ropes from the ground up is how its always been done in Japan, but that doesn't work anymore with our globalized networked economy. You gotta be faster , more creative, see the trends, and take RISKS. And generally the older generation does not do this, nor will they listen to some young guy who could possibly have the next great idea
NeoJamal
Welcome to Japan
If you are a bright Finance/Economics grad from a top university who wants to pursue a career with a major Japanese investment bank, you will be initially assigned as a teller.
What a waste of time for a talent Japan. This is why no Japanese bank is in the bulge bracket
Cletus
basroil
I did and that is exactly what lm commenting on. Maybe you should read it yourself.
These guys got bottom entry level jobs the same as any other graduate would and should. As for your statement "applying skills they know", they have no skills they are new to the workforce. They have some nice theory and book smarts behind them but in terms of industry experience they have zero experience and until they get some which is through doing menial work and working their way up. Im tipping that you are one of these uni grads who came out of uni thinking you knew all about everything and should start at the top too, right?
And l have know many an engineer out of uni that thinks theory makes the world go round and just because it works on paper it MUST work in the real world. Dont worry in my work life l have seen many of these upstarts come and go and only 1 or 2 ever make it. The problem is they think because they have a piece of paper saying they passed some degree that they are suddenly more all knowing than people with years of experience. And that is their first of many mistakes.
basroil
fupaymeJul. 24, 2012 - 07:51PM JST
Apple does (in fact, they rarely hire anyone who doesn't have 5+ years), but Google, Amazon, Microsoft all have some great entry level jobs that mix the bad tasks with pretty damn worthwhile ones. That's why those companies made more last year than half the non-industrial Japanese companies put together.
Thunderbird2
I used to work for the Student Loans Company and the number of graduates who couldn't spell, use grammar or even complete a form properly was incredible. Just because you have a degree doesn't make you any better than those without one...
If I was employing new recruits I would want people who were willing to learn the ropes, not some arrogant git who wanted to slot into his preferred position.
basroil
CletusJul. 24, 2012 - 04:47PM JST
Read the post.
These guys signed up for skilled jobs in applying skills they know. They got unskilled jobs that even a half-asleep monkey could do. If they were given jobs checking the strength of a screw in a certain location of an airplane while they wanted to design the cockpit, I would agree that they are asking too much, but that isn't the case.
I've known plenty of experienced professionals who can't put two sticks together and start a fire, and educated but inexperienced guys who rewrote the book on design. The issue is getting people into where they fit, not cramming beautiful chinaware into an ikea pencil case.
Cletus
fupayme
As a recent graduate and new employee at a company what gives you the right to not respect your bosses. Just because you went to a toffy uni and think you better than everyone doesnt mean a thing until you have put some time in and earned your position. Just because you went to some exclusive uni doesnt make you smarter or better than another candidate. I love this attitude, my daddy was rich so l went to a better uni than you so lm better..... No sonny this is the real world now get back to work.....
fupayme
Why do people assume the first 3 guys are having tantrums?
Some people take whatever they can get. Others take what they deserve
If I graduated from a top tier university, I wouldn't settle for a mediocre position, with bosses who I don't respect
Maybe if large Japanese corporation gave the young ambitious people a shot and put them in positions which challenged them from the start, Japan wouldn't be in the terrible economic situation that it is in now
Do you think Google / Apple / Samsung stuck their young ambitious new recruits in a meaningless position?
I would be frustrated as hell if I had creative ideas that could help the company out, but I was stuck in tottori, forced to spend the most important time of my career, reporting to some non-motivated Ossan.
Thunderbird2
I left school at 18, never went to Uni... yet I have a good, well-paid job and I work decent hours. Of course I can never work in Japan (that was painful) but with plonkers like these elitists complaining and walking out of their jobs and having tantrums maybe that's a lucky break ^_^
Cos
Wisdom.
Cos
Full of common sense. That would be going down to the bottom. If you want to start "at the bottom", you leave school at 16. You don't study and pay millions for a degree to work in a kombini, driving a delivery truck or painting buildings. You can do such baitos after graduating Todai, but you don't put them on the CV. There are some companies that make the new graduates try a number of low level posts for the experience, but that's short term, and they move on, they learn something and they are in a big company "in expansion", so they can evolve at middle term to something interesting in relation with their degree. But there are others that just put them at the less qualified position and forget them during 5 years in Tottori...while the promotions are stuck in the company and most of the HR moves are to close the less profitable branches (like Tottori's) and fire excess employees. That's common nowadays. And the youth that find out it's the case have interest to leave quickly.
hobart_mark
If up love what you do you will never work a day in your life
nandakandamanda
Redundant? Should this not be just "Hirees" or possibly "New employees"?
SquidBert
I read the article, and it is interesting, but it leaves a big question mark in my mind.
What happened to Mr. D?
fupayme
Thumbs up to these 3 guys, except for the last one. They made the right choice.
There are many sheep out there who are either 1. Lack self confidence 2. Have no ambition 3. Compromise
Obviously these 3 thought they were worth more, and were confident enough that they would find better. Even the basketball guy made the right choice. He wasn't willing to compromise what he valued more, and knew he could get another job, so quitting was the right choice
As long as you aren't in a position which forces you to sacrifice what you think you are worth, such as being in debt, having family to support, etc. Then why not take the risk and go for something better
I love how people here criticize, us Japanese for being complacent robots, then when the few out there with the balls to say FU and get what they are worth, you still criticize them.
I quit my crappy salaryman job after 2 years, and just started my own business. Because I knew inside that I was worth more, and my ambitions were greater than what was being offered from the typical zombie corp job.
But you know what? Im glad there are sheep out there, and people who complain about their situation / lives, and take no risks to improve it. If it weren't for those people, then I wouldn't be able to live the life I do today
Cletus
basroil
Funny l thought it was very accurate. These examples are very accurate in my particular field where young start out of uni guys come into the workplace thinking they know everything about everything because they have read it in a text book or because their lecturer had told them. The fact is nothing (and l mean nothing) makes up for a mix of experience and education.
Funny, just because you have a fancy piece of paper doesnt make you smarter or better for the job than someone with hands on experience in the field. You need to start at the bottom and work your way up. Granted you should move up faster because of you education but you still need hands on experience. My favorite activity at work is watching these wet behind the ears engineers come out of uni with their textbook ideas and theories and try to tell people with years of experience what's what. And the best part if they are to "smart" in their approach we let them do they "idea" and when it fails as they where told it would stand back and watch them be introduced to the bosses boot..... That suddenly pulls them back into line.
From my experience, education without experience counts for zero. I would rather a person with a few years experience and no degree than a person with a degree and no experience. Especially if the uni graduate has an ego like these people in this article..
basroil
This is about the most condescending pieces of bull have read this week. You don't go to a major university (likely after having wasted your childhood studying because the same folks above said it was for a better job) to enter a company at the same level as high school dropouts. "Another problem child" just reinforces the stance the author took to insult everyone that will ever pay his pension. While yes, an entry level job is common, there is a big difference between skilled and unskilled jobs.
The best thing to do here is to simply ignore jobs from stupid companies that under-employ, and within a decade you'll see several major collapses as the jijis in their manager offices get out of touch with the ever changing markets and get overtaken by more dynamic companies.
Tom Webb
Well now you now which way the country is heading in the 21st century.
SenseNotSoCommon
Far too many processes that should be automated, aren't. We don't know if the ichimanensatsu were counted on a machine or fanned out 80's style. Nevertheless, hot shots will find themselves ostracized if they think they're better than the rest of the team. The old Todai tie isn't a panacea - look at Sony.
That filial piety still translates into wasteful, humiliating pedagogy is criminal, though. J companies need to innovate, not emulate (either past practices or competitors). More importantly, J Govt. needs to sponsor an overhaul of HR practices and the over-rigid labour market.
YouDidntBuildThat
They are circling the drain if this part is true
“It’s become quite common to see parents deliver their child’s letter of resignation to the office,” says labor and social security attorney Daisuke Nozaki. “They are so overprotective, it gets to the point that their children are incapable of doing anything on their own.”
Frank Vaughn
I know that it is two different job cultures, however in the U.S. employers strongly avoid putting "overqualified" people into lower jobs (ie. the kid made to count banknotes) because those people typically leave the second something more to their skill level opens and then the employer has to train a new person again (and again, and again).
The kid at the electronics place, was he told during the recruitment and hiring phases that there was a chance he could work for the other division? If not then that was his own fault, probably had stars in his eyes (sorry for the pun) and took the job somehow thinking that he had what they wanted for the other division but didn't.
And then the Mama's boys . . . That line speaks for itself.
It is a global economy now and both employers and employees (both new and old) need to cooperate more.
Serrano
"felt his superior was a buffoon"
I know the feeling.
Guy-jin
I'd love to know exactly what percentage is being interpreted here as "in droves." I have a feeling it's not quite that dramatic. Perhaps "in droves" by Japanese standards only.
spiddygy
And worst of all, they lack patience in everything, starting with relationships, friendships and such.... They are only good at eating and attracting attention.
2020hindsights
I think companies in Japan waste young talent with their way of molding young graduates into company drones. Also, there is an attitude of never questioning the company that isn't healthy. If employees hopped jobs more and found their niche in a good company that nurtures them then it would be much better for companies and employees alike.
That said, these cases look like whiners. Banknote counter won't be doing that his whole life; but to know what it's like in the trenches is important. Tottori boy is making a lot of assumptions - but again learning how the branches work is important when you eventually get back to head office. I've been to Nagoya - boring place - but can't play basketball? Please. And I won't even go into Mama's-boy.
spiddygy
Most kids these days are brought up to be mean, self centred and weak mentally. If you can't do what you are instructed, then you can't find a Job, if you can't humble yourself and serve others, then no one will hire and work with you...
cleo
Graduate employment is at an all-time low; one in two students graduate without a job.
wontond
Seems like a sense of entitlement among new graduates is a common occurrence nowadays.
DP812
The man-child needs to grow up. I can sympathize with Mr. C, although not because of the basketball thing, but there is way too much focus in Japan on "your job is your life" and employers are far too willing to transfer their employees across the country, no matter the circumstances. Perhaps one factor in the low population is that people are being worked to death and in some cases, have to live apart from their families?
As far as the first two go, this system of keeping young people in menial positions is ridiculous. Just because you're straight out of college doesn't mean the only thing you're qualified to do is serve tea and count banknotes. There needs to be more focus put on the skills these people have. Japan won't dig itself out of the hole its in if it keeps treating the youth like they don't matter.
DentShop
It is interesting that new employees wouldnt grit their teeth for at least 6 months to see how things pan out. There must be a lot of jobs out there for graduates.
In the US there are basically no jobs for graduates and the ones that are being given out are for terrible money and doing the kinds of taks that interns or summer help used to do. Data-entry, filing and sorting.
On one hand, I admire that some people are too ambitious to do work they feel below them and who knows, they might land the job of their dreams next month and never regret leaving the other job. Then again, a lot of jobs will make their new recruits do the crap work before they are given any sort of responsibility.
y3chome
Too much of the having it all young image in the media/movies etc. Though fair game if they give up on these chances who knows better chances may turn up somewhere; its a risk. Though if they are coming from money, not really as much of a risk. The kid joining the company that sent him to tottori ; if you apply to a big company there is always that possiblity, why on earth would he be surprised about that? Todays job environment is very different from when I was there (not so long just 6 yrs ago), glad i got on the job ladder there and then, now I think it is harder. (which is why these kids should be grateful to get jobs)
wanderlust
Agree with sakurala - if you do not understand how the business works at the bottom end, how on earth can you manage it from the top? Their inflated sense of entitlement is their downfall.
Just because you are a 'Todai Grad', it does not mean you have competence; it just means you graduated from a university that is hard to get in to unless you passed a difficult exam, or had family connections or money. Japan's corridors of power, government and bureaucracies are overpopulated by useless Tokyo University graduates, connected together for life by their year grouping.
If you work in sound or video areas, for example, you learn the job by first carrying cables and boxes, then learning how to connect them, how to set and adjust them, and finally how to operate them, even if you have an electrical engineering degree. Then when you become a video project manager or concert sound engineer, you know exactly the issues of building an operating a system.
GW
Kudos to the first 2, tho they may be a bit full of themselves LOL! But hopefully they will find something that wont turn them into the typical zombie salaryman, god that is an awful existence. The last 2 are just weird aberations, ignore them.
Hopefully more & more young Japanese will no longer accept the fate to be simple drones until they hit 60, good to hear some arent willing to follow typical Japan Inc into a life of worthless misery!
Maybe there is some hope............... but looking at the employers in this blurb probably not!
Virtuoso
Legally, yes. But social custom in Japan traditionally dictates that a regular company employee should stay for a minimum of three years. That system has clearly changed.
Noliving
Yes but really only for political offices, for example Donald Rumsfeld resignation was rejected twice by President Bush during the Abu Ghraib torture scandal.
japan_cynic
It's not clear from the article whether the resignees are immature with a sense of entitlement, or just not prepared to waste their lives. Perhaps there's a bit of both. But I don't understand the tone of the article talking about "commitment". Of course employees can resign if and when they want!
sakurala
I feel for these people however what did they think would happen. Congrats, you finished a 4 year degree so we are going to let you handle our biggest clients? You can speak ENglish so we are going to make you the manager of an overseas department of a company that you harly know the ins and outs of? Of course not. They need to prove that they are reliant, hard working and capable of handling minor problems. If they were to get the positions that they were dreaming of right away, the may cause alot of issues for the company when they make their first mistake (its not if...its when). I could understand being angry after a few years, but a few months just shows that they are immature, impatiant and not really worth hiring by other companies.
meandmybigmouth
No money, no honey. Once your pocket is empty and no source of income, you will even work to give chirashi at eki, even if you are Todai Grad. :)
Greapper1
These people have serious entitlement issues...
They should be aware that you do start at the bottom of the ladder upon joining a company.
Once you prove you aren't a complete idiot you can move from tottori "a.k.a. the second most inaka prefecture" to Tokyo.
They are lucky they even have a job offer. Idiots...
Virtuoso
Ninoh@Bob Dylan is 71 years old.
y3chome
Over-entitlement and too much of it
bicultural
Yutori kyouiku FAIL.
gaijinTechie
Japanese tolerance towards monster parents is unfathomable. Any such interference from parents would destroy the kid's career in the said company. Obviously a "mommy's boy", can't handle real life.
The rest might seem spoiled, but they are indeed saving their careers by not accepting just any job. If you won't respect your own education, why should anybody else?
Gogogo, you're dead on. Work should never be a priority. If you have to work for a living, make yourself and your customers happy by doing what you like (such as hobby turned living, etc).
dalberryjp
And good for them! As opposed to the old salary man way of thinking which is "Taking orders blindly from someone who is my superior because they entered the company before me and working long hours for no reason other than to look like I'm working hard is more important than my family, seeing my children growing up and my own life."
I wonder why loveless marriages and suicide rates are high in Japan?
2020hindsights
NeverSubmit
Ummm, considering we are talking about university, by definition all of them are overprotective... Sorry about stating the obvious.
nath
In today's business world, companies do not "hire for life", so they should not cling to that same premise of "working your way up".
Entry level should equate with education and skill.
Virtuoso
I think it means that PTAs are not considered appropriate at the university level.
gogogo
This is what wrong with Japan, the line above is correct, WORK IS SECONDARY, Japan needs to foster that.
cubic
If I had 100 yen for every time somebody delivered the "the hammer that sticks out...." line on JT, I'd be a very rich individual. I knew just by reading the headline that it was coming.
nath
I still don't get the whole concept of "asking" to resign. Can the company decline your request?
I don't understand. Does the 5000 refer to the number of overprotective parents? If so, how is that assessed. Is there some kind of survey to establish which PTA members are overprotective and which aren't?
gaijinfo
Companies are private entities. They can hire and assign workers anywhere they want. The idea is to generally maximize the employees' talent to maximize their profits. If they stick somebody with good skills where they aren't effectively using them, it's the company's loss.
Workers, on the other hand, are also private "entities". They can choose to accept or refuse any job they like. The idea is to maximize their own skill for the most compensation (monetary or otherwise). If they are accepting a level of compensation and responsibility beyond their skills, they'll be disappointed.
If companies expect blind "obedience," they'll be let down. If employees expect automatic money and authority, they'll be let down.
I see a lot of FAIL on both sides. No wonder Japan's economy is swirling the drain.
bass4funk
This is a problem that's been going on for a long time. The parents will never, ever get it, never unless there is a massive change in society to change the mindsets of the parents and these spoiled brats. You have a society that doesn't think that kids living with their parents after 25 years old is a bad thing. Cleaning up after, doing their laundry and cooking for them, this is unhealthy for both. Kids come home EXPECTING their parents take care of them and the parents are CONTENT with their kids being at home.
@Johnny
I agree. I too, started my own business in the states and in Japan. Yes, you need to put some effort into it, but it is very attainable, if you set the proper goals. But that concept of youth independence doesn't really exist in Japan. I bought my first car at 21 and paid my way through college and university, had my own place. This is something that you will virtually never see in Japan. It's almost inconceivable, When I tell Japanese people they think I am some kind of Superhuman. What is normal and obvious to me, seems to be strange and odd to Japanese. So until the system in Japan changes child and parent relationships, This problem will only get worse.
ebisen
Mr. A and Mr. B. - well done - not like you are forced to work for some old farts, or at counting banknotes. You have training and skills, therefore better use them where they are needed more.
ebisen
Simple - fire the bullsh#t HR person who hired this person for the wrong job. I would have left as well, telling them in their face that they cheated at the interview. How stupid was to "assign" him to somewhere he does not want to work to begin with? It's not like he did not have other options in other companies...
hatsoff
With the shrinking population, we're going to see more employees being choosy about where they work - and I think that's a good thing. I don't think those first two people were expecting to start at the top, just start in a position more relevant to what they'd accomplished at university.
If I were Japanese and had made the effort to attend an American university, I'd be the same. It's time companies got more relevant.
We can't bash Japan for being subservient and behind the times and then criticise its employees when they expect change and relevance.
Probie
Mr. A and Mr. B, I am 100% behind.
Mr. C is a manchild.
Mr. E and his parents need a good kicking.
DoLittleBeLate
Yes, but do you have any relevant skills or knowledge? Or did you just party all the way to that free "everybody passes, don't worry about grades" graduation?
Ok, sarcasm aside, this article sounds like a lot of talented (not "talented", but actually skillful and/or knowledgeable) young people are victims of kugioroshi. A nail that sticks out gets hammered down, right?
The reason why a nail sticks out is that the plank is rotten, and so are all the nails that won't stick out.
cleo
With the graduate employment rate at rock-bottom, you'd expect those who did get jobs to hang on to them come what may, but obviously the reality is different.
Granted, there are some unable to leave Mummy, or too full of their own importance to be willing to start at the bottom. Maybe graduates applying for masses and masses of jobs regardless of suitability, and companies being too overwhelmed with applicants to screen them properly, and students grabbing whatever job is offered, is leading to gross mismatches and careers that end before they even start.
A proper screening process would have made the Todai graduate aware of the fact that he would be expected to start at the bottom counting banknotes, and made the bank aware of the fact that he had higher aspirations. Ditto the grad from the elite US university would have been aware of the possibility (probability, most likely - very few large enterprises settle new recruits in Tokyo HQ from the start) that he would be sent to the provinces for a few years. the 'can you imagine, someone with my background' attitude is a bit of a killer - so much for foreign education being better than Japanese.
And the parents, of course, should butt out.
frank07
it sounds like the employers are using misleading job advertising
JohhnyGlitterball
If they are so clever and worthwhile they can start their business which is easy in Japan. I did and am a foreigner who left school at 16 but then again i know the meaning of grafting from an early age.
nath
“So to them, the most important things in life are their own interests and circles, and work is secondary.” Well I think that in most developed countries this is how most people think. While it does seem like a few think very highly of themselves, and expected to start off at the top, being put into low level mindless jobs, just to teach them the correct way, is a waste of time. I wonder what they will do next since it is so hard to find jobs without your university connections. Good luck to them.
tmarie
So on one hand you have well educated guys expecting to be put to the top - laughable in Japan and they really should know better that they are nothing as trainees and kohai and then you have the pathetic weaklings that can't deal with being away from mom. Yep, no issues here with the hiring practices and education in Japan. Nope. None.
PTA meetings at university? Good help us all. When will the mothers here get a life??