I get the sense that cultural malaise and managerial rent-seeking afflict many legacy firms (outside of tech). In some ways, such corporations feel like they're

I get the sense that cultural malaise and managerial rent-seeking afflict many legacy firms (outside of tech). In some ways, such corporations feel like they're converging with peers in Japan---a gerontocratic society with limited social mobility (not a novel observation). If corporate America is indeed undergoing a process of "Japanification," such a phenomenon would likely result in outcomes at odds with received wisdom on career success. The type of worker "unruliness" documented here then should be unsurprising. (As an aside, I find it interesting that Japan has had pretty low levels of unemployment over the past twenty years. One might even expect this in a paternalistic society that bolsters rent-seeking incumbents. Hence, individuals can feel "stuck" even as the media superficially assesses data to fit the narrative of a "hot economy."). (Another observation, it's funny for the article to cite an executive comparing Americans to people in a country where menial workers are paid slave wages.)