Today I would like to talk about the work culture comparing Japan and Canada because I started side job a month ago working for Japanese company remotely.
I honestly want to have side job in Canada considering the current depreciation of the yen, but unfortunately my current visa doesn't allow me to work for another company than the one who sponcers me.
Now, Guess what I wanna tell you. it is very very stressful!! It is ridicuously, overwhelmingly stressful! Honestly I have totally forgotten how it is like but I now clearly recall how much I hate this work culture. I am like this is why I come to Canada. So today I need to talk.
Get straight to the point. First and foremost, I hate that Japanese company requires a lot of unpaid extra work outside work time. Other than being charged by time to work for end-client, the company requires me to send the daily report to them, extra meeting for OJT every week, and an exam to make sure we memorize all rules word for word. what I have said is supposed to be done unpaid amd outside the work time. I cannot charge those to them because the tasks above is not for the client the company is charging to.
Some sort of unpaid meeting or training could be potentially acceptable if I am fully employed by the company, but I am working for the company as a completely freerance. They are just a service provider. They don't offer me any perks, insurance, and even assure the certain amount of income. Then, why I need to spend extra time for them to feel safe enough to provide our profiles to their clients!
That is not fair enough for me.
but this is leterally one of the typical Japanese work cultures. Employer is superior to employees. Again, we don't usually work unpaid outside work generally speaking.
So now the idea of the differences of work culture between Canada and Japan will come to my mind. I am trying to see any other differences than the people's general common expectation like this.
No.1, Canada has higher Vacation Usage than Japan. Given that Japanese workers take vacation usually May as goldan week, several days in August and new years holidays, in most cases, we are reluctant to tell employers that we need extra month. but Canadian do this with no hasitation. Canadians typically take their allotted vacation days, and there is a cultural acceptance of using these days for rest and relaxation. One of the reason behind that is Canadians generally prioritize work-life balance more. There is a greater emphasis on ensuring time for family, leisure, and personal health.
No2., this is neutral. how we talk about people's profession is different.
in Japan we tend to emphasize which company people are working for rather than what the job title you have. This is one of the point I struggled to tell to Canadian company when I was in job hunting, which is regrettable because I could only name my company I used to work for which I am kind of proud of, but the job title in other words, professional skills I have developed was hard to tell especially because mine was really more general not specific certification or levels of education required. Which was not translatable in terms of which professional skills you have developed.
People in Canada, since they are not supposed to have Lifetime Employment for one company, they train themselves to tell what skills or experience you have. On the flip side, in Japan we could get the job with no experience no background education, but in Canada it is hard for people to get a job irrevalant to their experiences or educations.
No.3, attidude toward work.
Work as Identity: Work is often a central part of one’s identity, with a strong emphasis on loyalty to the company and collective success. Therefore, Employees show high levels of commitment and often participate in after-hours socializing, such as nomikai (drinking parties), to build team cohesion.
