lifestyle

Japanese company gives special coronavirus cash bonus to employees

5 Comments
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24

The popular image of Japanese companies is that they don’t care about individual workers’ well-being. Horror stories of unreasonable workloads and limitless overtime breaking employees both physically and mentally have their roots in societal values that prioritize group success over individual enjoyment. And it’s true that, comparatively speaking, Japanese companies tend to work their employees harder than their counterparts in most other developed economies.

But that shouldn’t be taken to mean that each and every boss in Japan is a remorseless slave driver. As proof of that is a recent photo taken by Japanese Twitter user @the_folkees. Though many companies in Japan have instituted telecommuting options during the coronavirus crisis, the nature of some jobs don’t allow for them to be done remotely, and that seems to be the case for @the_folkees. To show their gratitude, the management has given employees a thank-you letter, plus a really nice thank-you present.

Screen Shot 2020-03-08 at 15.14.26.png

The paper reads:

Coronavirus Countermeasure Support Funds

"Hey everybody,

Thank you very much for making the difficult effort of meeting with clients and going to job sites every day, even as the coronavirus crisis is ongoing. We are providing support funds to be used for the reasons listed below.

  1. To show our appreciation for your hard work for our company during this unsettling period.

  2. To aid you in purchasing coronavirus preventive supplies such as masks and hand sanitizer, which have been rapidly rising in price.

3. Because good health requires taking proper care of bout your physical and mental condition, please use this money to purchase groceries to cook, rent videos to watch, or otherwise make your time at home more enjoyable.

In difficult situations like the current one, let’s all keep looking ahead to better things to come."

Definitely a nice, positive message, and as proof that it’s not just empty talk, include with the letter was 30,000 yen in cash. “This is how my company is dealing with the coronavirus,” tweeted @the_folkees in a matter-of-fact manner, but other commenters were even more gushing in their praise.

“You work with some really great people.”

“’Hey everybody.’ You can just feel the friendliness.”

“I like how they’re not just throwing money at a problem, but really thought about how the funds could help their workers.”

“If I worked in a company like that, I’d stay there for my whole career.”

“The company is going to get benefits in loyalty that are worth much more than what they had to spend.”

“You guys hiring?”

Mixed in with the praise for @the_folkees’ company were a handful of snickers at the suggestion to “rent some videos,” since physical media rental stores in Japan are rapidly disappearing as consumers quickly move to online flat-fee streaming services. Really, though, that makes the funds all the more heartwarming, because even though the company doesn’t know exactly how @the_folkees and his coworkers will spend it, they still want to do what they can to make their time at home waiting out the coronavirus crisis a little less unpleasant.

Source: Twitter/@the_folkees via Jin

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- Japanese company tells worker he probably doesn’t have coronavirus, to come to work with a fever

-- Japanese revolving sushi restaurant chain stops revolving during coronavirus outbreak

-- Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea will close for two weeks because of coronavirus fear

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

5 Comments
Login to comment

And what other companies are doing this?

Most companies in Japan aren’t receiving income to pay staff at the end of this month.

This month will see many companies in a minus position especially if Abe calls for a state of emergency as several countries have done.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

a one off 30 k from one single company ...it really does show how Japanese companies really don't care imo..

It's a nice gesture but I DON'T see many other companies following suit!

6 ( +6 / -0 )

If they really wanted to help out they should provide each employee with a substantial supply kit that has all the anti-covid essentials like masks, hand sanitizer, ... toilet paper, etc.

Most working people are unable to line up first thing in the morning to score supplies when you have every mother and elderly person in your neighborhood lined up two hours before a place opens to get everything necessary.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Nice move. Is it enough ?

Will the company remain with enough liquidity to not go into bankruptcy if Corona situation lingers ?

Boss is a golden leader at least during hard times.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Its a generous offer, but unfortunately the majority of Japanese business owners are thinking "now is not the time to be foolishly handing out cash." Rather, "employees should take a pay cut and work longer hours. "

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites