Karoshi

Conceptual Overview

Because of the continuous high growth of the Japanese economy from the late 1960s, and the speedy recoveries from oil shocks in the 1970s, Japanese management techniques, symbolized by the just-in-time (JIT) logistics system, were studied with keen interest by Western business analysts. While these techniques contributed to their success, at the same time management was placing increasing demands on workers—not only financially, but physically and mentally as well. The phenomenon of karoshi became increasingly topical in such an employment environment.

During the bubble economy of 1990s, many Japanese workers increased their dependency on, and allegiance to, their corporate employers. The rapid rise of land prices made them rush to accept enormous and burdensome loans for purchasing their homes. While there were many bankruptcies, generated by the large number of bad loans that followed the bursting of the bubble economy, Japanese companies, faced with accelerated global competition, had to find still greater improvement in productivity, not only those involved in manufacturing, which were already highly controlled, but now also those of the nonmanufacturing sectors.

The financial big bang also resulted in the widescale bankruptcies of Japanese financial institutions, which had been bearing the kernel of the corporate grouping in Japan. Frequent amalgamations in this sector changed the shape of the Japanese corporate world. Japanese labor processes, once praised for their efficacy in producing loyal workers, were restructured. Companies introduced systems of promotion based on merit to replace promotion based on seniority and early retirement recommendation systems—schemes based on the presumption of lifetime employment with a single employer. Some companies resorted to bullying and harassment of middle-aged employees to force them to voluntarily resign. Such actions drove many dedicated employees to despair and suicide. The number of deaths by suicide increased sharply during the course of the prolonged period of recession. Particularly noticeable among the statistics were suicides attributable to karo jisatsu (overwork and stress among workers aged in their 40s and 50s).

While large numbers of middle-aged workers had become jobless, some workers, especially those of the younger generation, started to question the need to devote their working lives to a single company and began periods of long-term casual employment. As these conditions cut the high fixed labor costs associated with permanent employees, companies welcomed those seeking casual work. This resulted in the further dismantling of the traditional Japanese management style.

The remaining tenured workers faced increasingly excessive demands, such as the common expectation of them to work massive amounts of unpaid voluntary overtime. One of the leading Japanese financial institutions reported that male workers worked an average of 3,000 hours per year, including 700 hours unpaid work. This forced excessive workload is often represented as though it were performed at the workers' choice, by cloaking it under descriptions such as merit recognition systems and flexible working conditions. The unrealistic goals workers set themselves in response to these pressures exacerbated their stress and frustration.

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