Japanese Worker Fired After His Face Was Out of Frame & His Knee Could Be Seen During Zoom Meeting

For years, Japan’s work culture has both terrified and intrigued many around the world.

With a perceived history of utmost competitiveness and insane work rate in the country, it’s no wonder stories of ‘death from overworking‘ are far from being uncommon.

But humanity has always moved on with the times. And considering how a pandemic’s terrorising the entire world right now, one will be forgiven for perceiving even Japan’s work culture to be susceptible to change. After all, surely leniency will be granted in light of the current circumstances, right?

Well, not quite. As the following article headline points out…

Japan’s work-intense culture might be more deeply ingrained than we previously thought.

Japanese Worker Fired After His Face Was Out of Frame & His Knee Could Be Seen During Zoom Meeting

Lest you’re unaware, Japan’s a country infamous for its rigid and stress-filled transition from university to work. And while some might expect the process to tweak a little bit for the better in these tumultuous times, it seems that the exact opposite has occurred.

The fact that the country’s facing a major recession because of the current pandemic has actually made the transition even harsher.

As such, university graduates are finding it even harder to find a stable job, and if one does they are considered to have been blessed in the field.

Or so one particular graduate of a prestigious university in Tokyo thought anyway.

According to Soranews24, the graduate of Hosei University, who wishes to be known under the pseudonym “Yota Yoshida”, had found a job with a major IT firm and thought he absolutely ‘lucked out’. And to make things even more unbelievable, the unnamed company even allowed him to complete certain tasks late because of his decision to go travelling after graduation.

That last part’s really uncommon for Japanese companies by the way. Considering the work culture and all, I’m really surprised by the act of leniency there.

Suffice it to say; Yoshida accepted the offer. There was supposed to be a welcoming ceremony on 1 April of this year, but Pandemic-chan had other ideas.

As a result, everyone was instructed to attend an online training course from April to July instead; instructions also include donning a dress shirt and participating in company chat rooms on a daily basis.

Yota then went through with the process for the entire month of April.

And Then It All Changed

Just before the Golden Week holiday was due to commence at the end of the month, Yoshida was summoned to the office via a phone call. This would mark his first physical visit to the company since he was officially hired.

After a 40-minute train ride, Yoshida entered the company building, where he was greeted by an HR rep.

Instead of a pleasant greeting like you see in Doraemon, Yoshida received a greeting more in the vein of Attack On Titan. Stating that they would cut to the chase, the rep informed Yoshida of his termination, due to bad manners during training.

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Startled and confused by the sudden turn of events, Yoshida asked why. The rep then explained that Yoshida could be seen wearing a cardigan over his dress shirts, and without his chin in the frame at other times. Apparently, Yoshida’s knee actually poked into the frame on occasions too.

“We are an IT company that attaches great importance to manners over technology,” the rep added.

Well, that’s harsh. And the fact that he had to travel 40 minutes just to hear such crushing news and travel back again is even worse.

Yoshida was informed that he will be paid for May if he resigned voluntarily at the end of that month. He could not, however, attend training anymore.

What Happened To Yoshida?

In the end, the severance pay went towards Yoshida’s debts from tuition and travelling; he had nothing for the abrupt future.

At the current time, the laid-off civilian is attempting to crowdfund tuition into a vocational school, as well as the cost of a MacBook Air to learn programming and discover a new career path.

Apparently, Japan’s transition from university to work is so stringent that if you cannot find a job immediately after work, you may face stigmatization and a significant drop in employment prospects. 

But if he was expecting sympathy of any kind, however, it’s safe to say that soothing remarks are far and few between.

“I think that guy was flagged as a troublemaker the moment he decided to travel after graduation,” an online Netizen commented.

“I’m suspicious about his decision to go immediately to crowdfunding rather than searching for another job,” another wrote.

And other comments were no less forgiving.

“Why not raise the tuition money through a part time job rather than crowdfunding?”

“I felt sorry for him when I read the headline, but after learning more, he doesn’t seem to take society seriously.”

“I wonder about Yoshida, but I’d also be very concerned if my IT company valued manners more than their IT.”

“He wants a MacBook Air for programming? LOL! Good luck kid.”

“I’d like to hear the company’s side of this.”

While it’s unclear which region the comments hail from, one thing’s clear:

Japan’s work regimen is undeniably strict, and leaves little to no room for error.

Well, I guess working in Singapore isn’t that bad after all, eh?

Nevertheless, we here at Goody Feed would like to wish Yoshida all the best in his future endeavours. Also, we support Sora News’ sentiment;

That Yoshida should learn to keep his chin up in the future, especially in these tumultuous times.