Episode description

Everyone loves a good hack these days. It’s all about efficiency and finding ways to be even more productive. Well, that’s great for things like finding a quicker way to fold your clothes but when it comes to the workplace, the quest for more productivity can be taken a little too far. And by a little, we mean a lot. 

See, the aftermath of World War II left Japan in an economic disaster. Shigeru Yoshida, Japan’s prime minister at the time, prioritised rebuilding the economy by getting major corporations to offer their employees lifelong job security. 

All the employees had to do was give their loyalty in return. But over time, workplace loyalty has become more of a ‘til death do us part’ type thing. Quite literally. 

Surveys have shown that one in three Japanese men between the ages of 30 and 40 work more than 60 hours a week. Overtime is the norm. In fact, it’s not unusual for people to work 80 hours of overtime each week. Oh, did we mention that overtime is unpaid work? 

In the mid-1980s, nearly half of all the section chiefs and two-thirds of department chiefs in major companies in Japan were concerned they might DIE from overwork. And they weren’t just being dramatic: death by overwork is so common in Japan there’s an actual term for it: Karoshi.

Heart attacks, strokes, diabetic coma, liver malfunction, you name it. All happening to young, overworked employees in the name of productivity. The first case was reported in 1969 when a 29-year-old man working in the shipping department of Japan's biggest newspaper died of a stroke.

As you can imagine, death by overwork is something the Japanese government wasn’t too keen on investigating. I mean, can work really be the cause of death if the person wasn’t even getting paid for it?! 

Weren’t they just volunteering out of genuine loyalty to the company’s values? Who needs to see their children when they could be at work til 3am, right?

Besides, people already waste too much time blowing their noses, walking to the toilet and wiping sweat off their brows! They couldn’t possibly work any less. 

But with young employees continuing to drop dead at their desks and families seeking compensation, the Japanese government took some, albeit small, measures to keep their employees happy… and more importantly, alive. 

Unfortunately, telling someone they can leave at 3pm on a Friday just means they’ll have a shit tonne more work on Monday. And the employees would probably be terrified of the ramifications if they actually left before midnight. 

So is work really worth dying for? 

And does death by overwork only occur in Japan or is it a worldwide phenomenon? 

Surely there’s a hack or two out there to stop this madness. 

PREVIOUS EPISODES MENTIONED:

Anthropophagy! (It Means Cannibalism)!

https://omny.fm/shows/the-wholesome-show/anthropophagy-it-means-cannibalism

SOURCES:

• People fought for time off from work, so stop working so much, Fast Company
• Average Workweek by Country 2023, World Population Review
• What Is Karoshi? Behind Japan's 'Death by Overwork' Problem, Business Insider
• Karoshi-Death from overwork: Occupational health consequences of the Japanese production management (Sixth Draft for International Journal of Health Services -  February 4, 1997)
• Jobs for life, The Economist
• Karoshi, Wikipedia

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.