Arubaito culture in Japan
There are three kinds of employees in Japan: full time, part time, and arubaito.
The last type, the name for which comes from the german word for “work” (arbeit), refers to contract-less employees who are paid by the hour and work irregular or semi-temporary schedules, as differentiated from full company employees, who have benefits like twice-annual bonuses and vacation time, and semi-official part-timers, who also have some formal benefits.
One of the biggest trends in post-bubble Japanese society is the tendency of younger workers to shun traditional full-time employment, instead being content to work informal jobs staffing video rental stores and gas stations, tutoring at evening cram schools, and so on. According to a new government report, an amazing 35% of the workforce now occupies these “non-regular” employment positions, exchanging freedom to change jobs at will and less on-the-job stress for lower job security.
Why so many would choose to work as freeters (as these part-time and temporary workers are called) puzzles older Japanese, who of course benefited greatly from the stable economic growth of the postwar period. The reasons ‘baito is so popular are many, but one big one is that many Japanese have come to value their own leisure time over work.
This is a good thing of course, although I personally consider the industriousness of the Japanese people as a whole to be no less than a National Treasure for the country, and something that I hope will continue into the future.
I’m not so sure it’s a good thing for society as a whole though as it contributes to a lower birthrate. The goal should be to encourage more leisure among the regular workforce.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:44 amGood analysis. I hear lots of people describe ‘freeters’ as lazy and refusing to grow up. I can’t make blanket statements, but some of ‘freeters’ I know are well educated, motivated, and ready to work but can’t find a good job. It’s better to be underemployed then unemployed.
Others that I know, as you mentioned, they value their own leisure time over work. A friend of mine explained that on a yen per hour basis, he makes more than if he got a real job with a 10+ hour work day, and with significantly less stress.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:47 amCorea also has a arubait (Corean word for arubeit), and is quite often done by teenagers.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:57 amMaybe they just don’t like what is expecting them on work:
- ridiculous overwork (worst case: come before your boss and go after him, no matter what you have to do)
- no responsibility on work in the first years (even worse for women)
- “mandatory” drinking after work
- superiors who can’t take open criticism, who don’t care about your opinion (because you are the new guy)
- no interest in change or progression, old structures dominate –> no chance to make a difference
- highly bureaucratic workplace, paperwork and applications for everything
- highly inflexible rules (lunch is from 1200to 1300, for everybody in Japan)
- no flextime
- bosses who only want to be told 5x a day how great they are…
- pension gets lost anyway….
I could go on an on… point is: The classical Japanese office-life doesn’t look so interesting. The only thing that can be almost sure is that you have to are expected to sacrifice everything for the company (including your family)…not a very interesting outlook/perspective….
August 25th, 2008 at 8:47 amThe problem with all this “industriousness” is that the Japanese worker is the least productive (GDP earned per hour worked) in the G8.
August 26th, 2008 at 1:29 amI’m afraid to say there are only two employment categories in Japan: Regular employment and non-regular employment. Actually many people work as full time or part time under non-regular employment. Arubaito is a form of non-regular employment.
The problem here is the labor force dumping. Most workers under non-regular employment get underpaid, even many of them do the same job like regular workers.
Another big problem in Japan is that the productivity of regular full time workers is often quite low.
August 26th, 2008 at 12:20 pm