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Love the clothes Hate the work culture. I have a few friends who work for Uniqlo on the e-commerce team in the US. They all tell me that the work culture is ho

Love the clothes Hate the work culture. I have a few friends who work for Uniqlo on the e-commerce team in the US. They all tell me that the work culture is horrible. It’s very Japanese. - Long unproductive hours gets your bosses appreciation. - Very sexist and male dominated. - They hate working remote even when it was absolutely necessary for the employee. - No respect for maternity related issues. Any company that would like to see itself become multinational has to adapt to local cultures

hatmatrix 6y ago
Also from the article: > As a child Yanai [Uniqlo's founder] was scared of his father, who would beat him for not finishing his breakfast quickly or spending too much time reading after bedtime. But a sense of duty lured him home after he graduated from university and he took over the family enterprise as its employees began to retire. Doesn't get much more Japanese than this.
rogy 6y ago
Similar experience working with Uniqlo UK staff, they would call us for support on trivial issues late at night, demanding that is was of the utmost importance some buried marketing text was changed on random content pages. They mostly sounded like they had no choice but to do as they were told, and looked very exhausted when we met them in person.
lhorie 6y ago
This seems to be widespread among japanese companies. My dad worked for a large Japanese multinational and on a number of occasions when japanese execs flew in, he would have to set them straight when they tried to engage in employee harassment, unruly behavior in restaurants, etc... ...and that's coming from a reputable, well-off company. In Japan, they have a term called "black company"[1] that is essentially abusive sweatshops, but for office work. There's literally genres of manga that start off w/ the premise of people dying of overwork at these kinds of places. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_company_(Japanese_term) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_company_(Japanese_term)
decafninja 6y ago
I am Korean American, and have worked for some of the huge Korean conglomerates. The work culture leaves a lot to be desired. There is also "reverse racism" prevalent. i.e. if you are Korean (or Kor-Am) and are working for a Korean corporation, you might be judged on different standards than a coworker who is not Korean, or not East Asian. You're expected to work harder and more "passionately" for no extra compensation just because some vague notion of nationalistic/ethnistic Korean Pride. I've interviewed at some of the big Japanese conglomerates too, and I got exactly the same feeling as I did with Korean companies. I've come to the conclusion that I will never work for an East Asian company again barring some earth shattering changes to their corporate culture. Many of my ex-colleagues say the same.
kinghtown 6y ago
> Any company that would like to see itself become multinational has to adapt to local cultures Good luck on that. General consensus out here in Asia is that western people are lazy ( but not everyone feels this way! Some people consider westerners to be lazy and nice..) Traditional Asian culture, this is my own Non controversial opinion coming, values hard work. A bunch of people I know who work in Science park in Taiwan are actually afraid of being productive because if they were to become more efficient then suddenly they would be working so much more. No managers reward productivity out here with a shorter work day. If the rest of the world were to mandate four day work weeks by law, and flourish doing such, then the companies out here would rub their hands together greedily because they will dominate with their work culture and punishingly long hours. So much about Japan is best in the world but their work culture is soul crushing.
- stickfigure 6y ago
  "How's that working out for you?" 'Dominating' doesn't seem like the appropriate word to apply to Japan right now? From Wikipedia: Japan's asset price bubble collapse in 1991 led to a period of economic stagnation known as the "lost decade", sometimes now extended as the "lost 20 years." From 1995 to 2007, GDP fell from $5.33 trillion to $4.36 trillion in nominal terms. Japan today has the highest ratio of public debt to GDP of any developed nation, with national debt at 236% relative to GDP as of 2017. This debt is predominantly owned by Japanese nationals. The Japanese economy faces considerable challenges posed by an ageing and declining population, which peaked at 128 million in 2010 and has fallen to 126.5 million as of 2018. Projections suggest the population will continue to fall to potentially lower than 100 million by the middle of the 21st century. Economies are complex. It's not clear that punishingly long hours at work are an advantage.
  - kinghtown 6y ago
    I don’t think long hours are an advantage. Honestly, it’s a cultural divide which probably won’t go away. I know someone who works at a German owned branch for a manufacturer in Taiwan. The previous Taiwanese head guy got let go because for years they would be very behind schedule for deliveries. Like months behind. So new big boss is a German. He gave a big talk to introduce himself to the factory. One of his main points was to reward productivity, KPI shouldn’t be the only metric, whatever. He recommended a book called The Lazy Project Manager and emphasized that this is the mindset he wants everyone to be in. Funny thing is, the Taiwanese engineers kind of zoned out on everything he said but perked up at the word “lazy” in the book title. To cut to the chase, the factory thinks the new boss is lazy. The hard working mentality is very deeply ingrained out here.
ksec 6y ago
Yes that is common across nearly All Japanese companies and that is why I have been critical of them in terms of global expansion. ( And especially in Tech ) But things are slowly changing though. Those that are younger generation ( Comparatively Speaking ) are in middle to higher management roles are more open and less hostile, so you start seeing a few Japanese companies picking up actual productivity increase and competing.
yibg 6y ago
It's an interesting question. Do multinationals adopt to local cultures or do they try to set the tone locally? The example you gave goes one way, what about the other way? Should an American company operating in Japan follow local culture (e.g. some of the things listed above)? I don't know what the right answer is, but I've worked in Asia as part of a multinational company and always felt weird about requiring pictures for job applications. There were also comments regarding female candidates that would definitely be considered unacceptable in the US but is normal there.

hatmatrix 6y ago

Also from the article: > As a child Yanai [Uniqlo's founder] was scared of his father, who would beat him for not finishing his breakfast quickly or spending too much time reading after bedtime. But a sense of duty lured him home after he graduated from university and he took over the family enterprise as its employees began to retire. Doesn't get much more Japanese than this.

rogy 6y ago

Similar experience working with Uniqlo UK staff, they would call us for support on trivial issues late at night, demanding that is was of the utmost importance some buried marketing text was changed on random content pages. They mostly sounded like they had no choice but to do as they were told, and looked very exhausted when we met them in person.

lhorie 6y ago

This seems to be widespread among japanese companies. My dad worked for a large Japanese multinational and on a number of occasions when japanese execs flew in, he would have to set them straight when they tried to engage in employee harassment, unruly behavior in restaurants, etc... ...and that's coming from a reputable, well-off company. In Japan, they have a term called "black company"[1] that is essentially abusive sweatshops, but for office work. There's literally genres of manga that start off w/ the premise of people dying of overwork at these kinds of places. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_company_(Japanese_term) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_company_(Japanese_term)

decafninja 6y ago

I am Korean American, and have worked for some of the huge Korean conglomerates. The work culture leaves a lot to be desired. There is also "reverse racism" prevalent. i.e. if you are Korean (or Kor-Am) and are working for a Korean corporation, you might be judged on different standards than a coworker who is not Korean, or not East Asian. You're expected to work harder and more "passionately" for no extra compensation just because some vague notion of nationalistic/ethnistic Korean Pride. I've interviewed at some of the big Japanese conglomerates too, and I got exactly the same feeling as I did with Korean companies. I've come to the conclusion that I will never work for an East Asian company again barring some earth shattering changes to their corporate culture. Many of my ex-colleagues say the same.

kinghtown 6y ago

> Any company that would like to see itself become multinational has to adapt to local cultures Good luck on that. General consensus out here in Asia is that western people are lazy ( but not everyone feels this way! Some people consider westerners to be lazy and nice..) Traditional Asian culture, this is my own Non controversial opinion coming, values hard work. A bunch of people I know who work in Science park in Taiwan are actually afraid of being productive because if they were to become more efficient then suddenly they would be working so much more. No managers reward productivity out here with a shorter work day. If the rest of the world were to mandate four day work weeks by law, and flourish doing such, then the companies out here would rub their hands together greedily because they will dominate with their work culture and punishingly long hours. So much about Japan is best in the world but their work culture is soul crushing.

stickfigure 6y ago
"How's that working out for you?" 'Dominating' doesn't seem like the appropriate word to apply to Japan right now? From Wikipedia: Japan's asset price bubble collapse in 1991 led to a period of economic stagnation known as the "lost decade", sometimes now extended as the "lost 20 years." From 1995 to 2007, GDP fell from $5.33 trillion to $4.36 trillion in nominal terms. Japan today has the highest ratio of public debt to GDP of any developed nation, with national debt at 236% relative to GDP as of 2017. This debt is predominantly owned by Japanese nationals. The Japanese economy faces considerable challenges posed by an ageing and declining population, which peaked at 128 million in 2010 and has fallen to 126.5 million as of 2018. Projections suggest the population will continue to fall to potentially lower than 100 million by the middle of the 21st century. Economies are complex. It's not clear that punishingly long hours at work are an advantage.
- kinghtown 6y ago
  I don’t think long hours are an advantage. Honestly, it’s a cultural divide which probably won’t go away. I know someone who works at a German owned branch for a manufacturer in Taiwan. The previous Taiwanese head guy got let go because for years they would be very behind schedule for deliveries. Like months behind. So new big boss is a German. He gave a big talk to introduce himself to the factory. One of his main points was to reward productivity, KPI shouldn’t be the only metric, whatever. He recommended a book called The Lazy Project Manager and emphasized that this is the mindset he wants everyone to be in. Funny thing is, the Taiwanese engineers kind of zoned out on everything he said but perked up at the word “lazy” in the book title. To cut to the chase, the factory thinks the new boss is lazy. The hard working mentality is very deeply ingrained out here.

ksec 6y ago

Yes that is common across nearly All Japanese companies and that is why I have been critical of them in terms of global expansion. ( And especially in Tech ) But things are slowly changing though. Those that are younger generation ( Comparatively Speaking ) are in middle to higher management roles are more open and less hostile, so you start seeing a few Japanese companies picking up actual productivity increase and competing.

yibg 6y ago

It's an interesting question. Do multinationals adopt to local cultures or do they try to set the tone locally? The example you gave goes one way, what about the other way? Should an American company operating in Japan follow local culture (e.g. some of the things listed above)? I don't know what the right answer is, but I've worked in Asia as part of a multinational company and always felt weird about requiring pictures for job applications. There were also comments regarding female candidates that would definitely be considered unacceptable in the US but is normal there.