Japan has a reputation for being a country of workaholics. And too often, the country’s approach to work has deadly consequences. So it’s no surprise that some Japanese citizens would just say “screw it.” In fact, I just learned a new Japanese word this week that refers to employees who’ve lucked into a path of least resistance.
Working Hard or…?
The discovery comes via Twitter use Ambroise Velvet, a French citizen living in Japan. Ambroise has a recurring bit on their account, “Learning Japanese Through Tinder.” Occasionally, they’ll post a new Japanese word or expression that she’s picked up either from a Tinder dating profile or a message they’ve received on the platform.
Needless to say, this content is all of the juicy, you-won’t-learn-this-in-a-textbook variety of modern slang Japanese. The good stuff.
You can see a full list of the terms Ambroise has collected here. However, it’s the latest one that really peaked my attention: 社内ニート.
As Ambroise explains, the term seems like a contradiction. Typically, a NEET (a term popularized in the West via anime) is someone who…isn’t working.
A “company NEET”, however, is employed. They…just don’t have that much to do. As the Japanese site Tech Camp explains it, a Company NEET has so few responsibilities at their firm that they have a ton of free time on their hands. Tech Camp also describes such individuals as 社内失業者 (shanai shitsugyousha) – or “the corporate unemployed.”
Tech Camp further rattles off some of the hallmarks of a “company NEET”:
- Typically waits on instructions from superiors vs. seeking out work
- Slow to work and low productivity
- Doesn’t tell anyone they finished something early but waits for the official due date
- Not fond of communication
- Been at the company a while
Is The Company NEET Really That Radical?
I think most of us who’ve worked office jobs have, at one point in time, found ourselves in a similar position. I remember resigning one temp job in New York City in my early 20s due to the pacing. Most of my days consisted sitting at a computer and waiting for work. And work didn’t always come.
However, the reality is that most of us are more like the company NEET than we care to admit. A 2016 survey of UK office workers found that most do a grand total of 2 hours and 53 minutes work a day. And US workers reported spending over 2 hours a day distracted by their devices.
But that’s us lazy Westerners. What’s the reality in Japan?
Well, first off, Japan’s reputation as a workaholic nation may be overblown. According to the OECD, the country only ranks 26th in total hours worked per worker.
Second, despite their reputation for late nights, workers in Japan may be less productive than you think. Data compiled by the Japan Productivity Center ranks Japan 21st out of 37 countries in terms of productivity relative to hours worked. The “low productivity of Japanese workers” is a recurring theme in the Japanese business press. Work reformers in Japan point out that countries like Norway and Germany consistently are ranked as more productive despite putting in fewer overall hours.
The Other Species of Not Working in Japan
The company NEET is in good company (no pun intended).
Before the company NEET, there was the 窓際族 (madogiwa-zoku), or “window-side tribe”. As Ambroise explains in the thread, the madogiwa is a somewhat different species. They’re older office workers whom their company has explicitly sidelined in the hopes that they will, eventually, remove themselves from the payroll voluntarily.
Occupying a somewhat in-between space between the full NEET and the company NEET is the freeter (フリーター). Freeters, like the company NEET, also have jobs, but only part-time. People in this class get by on what little income they can make with little to no hope for career growth.
Many Japanese sites describe terms like フリーター and NEET in moralistic terms. (For example, this site describes Freeters as “not putting in effort” and “people society can’t trust”.) But of course, there are various reasons – economic, psychological – that people might end in something other than full-time work. And with long hours and bullying in Japanese workplaces being not uncommon, it’s understandable why some would shy away.
On the other hand, if you’re gonna embrace being a company NEET – like the guy at the top of our story – I say, more power to ya. But you might want to consider a better opening salvo on Tinder…
