JJapan

Japan’s historic work ethic is declining—45% of workers admit they’re quiet quitting

  • May 5, 2025

Japan’s historic work ethic is declining—45% of workers admit they’re quiet quitting

by moeka_8962

27 comments

  3. I had friends admit years ago they were quit quitting. Why kill yourself for a company that wasn’t going to provide the steel rice bowl their fathers received? I don’t blame them, employment has felt so precarious in the last 20 years and the wages are shit. It’s absurd what many Japanese will work for. In some parts of the world, people won’t get out of bed for those salaries.

  4. Younger generations are starting to refuse to be slaves to the system

  5. I’ve been watching a Japanese YouTuber that talks about the life of working in a manufacturing engineering role, and he gives countless examples of how getting an “exceed expectations” or being promoted is actually considered a penalty game. You work your ass off and you only get like a 3-5% wage increase and once you are promoted, you are given more work to do without getting much increase in pay.

    Some view the young people who are “quiet quitting” to be the smarter ones, where they reached the same enlightenment that many reached in their mid-years of working less is better.

  6. I’d be surprised if there were a change in work ethic.  There were no ‘quiet quitting’ surveys before.  A work culture that prioritises obeying the superior and looking busy over actual productivity and results is always going to leave people demotivated.

    In fact, I’d argue that the overworked and depressed part is not actual physical exhaustion, but a severe lack of motivation and purpose.

  7. The “work ethic” that didn’t really exist? My observations living in Japan have been that there are two types of “Japanese work ethic.” One is the master craftsman who dedicates their life to their trade in pursuit of perfection, sometimes to a toxic level which more or less abandons their family responsibilities. The other is appearing to be busy without accomplishing anything, as is typical in the corporate world, which isn’t really a work ethic at all.

  8. Back in 2001, I was bored and counted the number of smoke breaks my project counterparts took. It’s about one every 15-20 mins and averaging 5-18 mins each time. From 730am to 8pm (the time I left) didn’t count the time they remained.

    I wouldn’t be surprised that’s their quiet quit loophole.

    So blaming current generations for quiet quitting is quite disingenuous.

  9. Wow, do that many Japanese have jobs without a nasty psycho-manager breathing down everyone’s necks while they work? No productivity deadlines and quotas that they’ll be screamed at for not meeting (and sometimes even when they do)? I guess this article must be referring to those legendary office jobs where you can go in and just sit at your desk and sleep or do nothing all day but BE there.

  10. The term quiet quitting is so dumb. I know, in the states, it was used to basically used to describe doing what was outlined in your job(s) contract & not going over and beyond.

    That’s not “*quiet quitting*” that’s doing your job. Workers shouldn’t feel pressured to do an ounce more than the job they signed up to do.

    Edit:

    > Workers said they do the basics required for their jobs for various reasons, but cite wanting a better work-life balance or feeling indifferent about their career path as prime reasons for losing motivation at work.

    It seems it’s being applied similarly here too. If employers want more work. Let them pay more money & put it in the contracts & let employees know up front when they sign up for the job.

  11. Then they ought to pay them more and they’ll get the work ethic back.

  12. Loyalty is a two-way street, and a lot of employers are not loyal to their employees.

    Employers: “How can we know you are giving your full effort unless we squeeze you until absolutely nothing is left—and then squeeze a little more? Also, if we help you get more skills, you might leave or demand more money, so no to that, too.”

  13. My wife’s father finally retired earlier this year, after a 40+ year career. Without a university education and a homemaker wife, he was able to raise 2 kids who went to university.

    This scenario is increasingly impossible not just in Japan but all major economies.

  14. As an outisder, I was under the impression that Japan often hired people for life, but during economic downturns some people would show up to work and be assigned nothing, the ‘window people.’ Due to the cultural norm of working overtime – and being seen working overtime – simply putting in your hours and going home is being framed here as ‘quiet quitting.’ That phrase just means something different in the west.

    I guess I’ll never know with an article as poorly written and supported as this one. That opening paragraph – where the author just fancifully nicknames different days of the week – isn’t even journalism, It’s creative writing class time. This is *bad* writing with no analysis

  15. Perhaps this will be a positive change to the work culture. No reason anyone should slave their life away for a company.

  16. Good! The Japanese work culture is literally Toxic and actually *killing* people. Nevermind one of the main reasons the countries birth Rate is so low. They need to change it

  17. Low pay, serf-like conditions, glacial advancement. Working in Japan was hell.

  19. The elites want everyone to work as slaves until death fuck that we are taking back our freedoms good job japan

  20. I am also guilty of feeling this way. Recentry I have only service 17 or 18 customer per hour. Sometimes I think about Hawaii. 宜しくお願いします

  21. ‘Quiet quitting’ is just doing what you’re paid to do. Such a stupid term. It’s what everyone should be doing, and if employers want us to take on extra tasks, they should offer a pay rise and, if appropriate, a promotion.

    In April several of my friends’ companies had 2 or more people quit, transfer or retire, and the companies decided not to replace them, instead asking everyone else to do more work, with no pay increase. Screw that crap.

    Employers need a reality check and to start paying people wages that keep up with the cost of living.

  22. I wonder how many are actually “quiet quitting” vs just doing their job but not having aspirations for promotion.     

    “Quiet quitting” is a relatively recent term that means “doing the minimum requirements of your job and not putting more time/effort than is necessary.” They are still doing what needs to be done, just not going above and beyond. According to US Gallup, 50% of Us workers are “quiet quitters.”    

  23. I recently joined a corporate Japanese company and even though the ceos are quite young (early 30s) I still cannot imagine a work life balance for those working with families. Even with the highest potential earning in the company, you’re still expected (not forced) to do a certain amount of overtime.

  24. Quiet quitting. Why aren’t we talking about quiet paying from the employers? They are only paying me the money that was in the working contract /s its so sad that the media and the big companies are twisting the facts that only doing the work that you are contractual forced is something bad

  25. I got a 2.5k Yen base-up this year which is an insult lol.
    (seperate from yearly salary increase)

  26. Great to see that more and more people are starting to resist this exploitative system. Knowing the government, I can’t imagine it translating into actual change but still.

  27. What do you do when you’ve literally burned out a nation of workers?

    Seems… bad…

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