Why do foreigners leave their jobs at Japanese companies?

Summary from the post

Why do foreigners leave their jobs at Japanese companies?

• To return to my home country, 47.9%
• To move up in my career, 36.6%
• Problem with appropriateness of work assigned, 23.0%
• Lack of fit with Japanese corporate culture, 16.4%
• Relations with co-workers, 14.5%
• To get married, care for a family member, 13.9%
• Salary, 12.9%
• Difficulty communicating in Japanese, 12.3%
• Problem related to working hours and paid vacation, 4.1%
• Worried about the future of the company, 3.5%
• Health reasons, 2.2%
• Other, 2.2%

Here are some things to consider about the kind of company you might want to work for in Japan.

• Large, medium or small-sized company?
• Domestic or global company culture?
  • Although Japan as a whole is internationalizing, not all Japanese companies are doing so at the same pace, and some Japanese companies still very old school.
• Are you the only foreigner? Are you the first foreigner to have ever worked there?
• Your role and seniority level when you start.
• Whether you have a chance to learn new skills and advance your career at the company.

Japanese corporate culture

We will cover Japanese corporate culture more in-depth in a another post, but here are the main issues to be aware of when you come to work at a more traditional Japanese company:

1. Language – Can you communicate with your manager and co-workers in Japanese?
2. In-direct communication style – Do you understand the sub-text of what is and isn’t being said?
3. Long hours at work and need to put in face time
4. Consensus decision making and focus on process
5. Fear of failure – Can lead to conservative decision-making or no decision making at all
6. Career path – Do you see yourself advancing at the company?
7. Seniority trumps a lot of other things

Source and Details:

https://resources.realestate.co.jp/living/why-do-foreigners-leave-their-jobs-at-japanese-companies/

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