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Majority of younger Japanese people in survey respect less than 30 percent of their old coworkers

Casey Baseel Jul 25, 2022
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Over 50 percent of respondents say old coworkers contribute “nothing in particular” to the workplace.

In a survey of 300 people last month, just a little under under half said there’s an old man working at their company who doesn’t really do anything. Old Japanese workers didn’t fare too well either in a more recent survey by Japanese magazine Spa, either, with participants’ responses showing they don’t have a lot of respect for their officemate elders.

The survey asked 2,000 people what percentage of “old employees” at their company they respected. There doesn’t seem to have been a strict definition of what constitutes “old,” but with responses only being collected from people between the ages of 20 and 49, 50 and up seems to be the demographic the survey was implying. When the responses were tallied up, the majority of the respondents said they respected 30 percent or less of their old coworkers, and only 23.2 percent said they respected most of their old colleagues.

What percentage of your old coworkers do you respect?
● Less than 10 percent: 26.8 percent of respondents
● Between 10 and 30 percent: 27.9 percent of respondents
● Between 30 and 50 percent: 22.1 percent of respondents
● Between 50 and 70 percent: 16 percent of respondents
● Between 70 and 90 percent: 5 percent of respondents
● Over 90 percent: 2.2 percent of respondents

The survey participants were then asked what positive contributions their old coworkers make to the company, which turned out to be pretty difficult for most of them to answer, as the responses were:

● Nothing in particular: 55.6 percent
● Work-related knowledge and skills: 19.9 percent
● Clear guidance and instructions: 14.2 percent
● Crisis-handling capabilities: 11.4 percent
● Strong leadership: 10.6 percent
● Helpful advice when asked for it: 10 percent
● An atmosphere of faith in the workers: 6.3 percent
● They don’t engage in sexual or power harassment: 6.3 percent

▼ “I appreciate how you don’t harass other people” seems like a pretty low bar for respect, but you have to admit it’s better than working with someone who does.

As always with surveys, it’s worthwhile to take into consideration the size and the source. In this case, 2,000 people isn’t a huge sample, and Spa is a pretty sensationalist magazine, with a strong focus on scandals and gossip. Their regular readership might be more predisposed to see negative aspects in people and social interactions, and that, in turn, could be skewing the survey results to show a dimmer view of old coworkers than the Japanese population has as a whole. At the same time, the survey respondents, at least, don’t think too highly of their old coworkers, showing that even in a society where respecting one’s elders is normally considered the polite thing to do, that respect still has to be earned.

Source: Spa via Yahoo! Japan News via Otakomu
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Insert image: Pakutaso
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