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Many young employees ready to explode, warn experts
A 30-year-old Sony employee who was arrested for repeatedly abusing animals at home said he did so “due to stress.” However, psychologists warn there are increasing numbers of young employees who are vulnerable to breaking down mentally.
Sony was shocked upon the revelation that one of its lab workers had been abusing animals at home. “He was always inside his booth working,” said one employee. “He rarely interacted with other colleagues. But many lab workers are like that, so I wasn’t particularly concerned. I just wonder why he committed such an act.”
Shinichi Moriyama, 30, allegedly posted video footage of himself choking, punching and conducting other cruel acts on ferrets on online forums starting in early March. He was arrested in violation of the Cruelty to Animals Act on April 11. It was learned, upon his arrest, that 20 to 30 small animals such as hamsters had been killed. “My work wasn’t going too well and I did it to release stress,” he was quoted as saying for the motive.
Moriyama worked at Atsugi Technology Center in Kanagawa Prefecture, often referred to as the “heart of Sony” in the industry, where elite researchers are gathered to develop new technologies. The competition among workers is fierce, and Moriyama seemed to have fared well since he had filed applications for patents.
According to Sony, nothing odd was observed in his work behavior, except that in February, he began to take 5 days off from work each month, saying he was in bad shape. It is speculated that something happened to him around that time, but most Sony employees still struggle to understand his motive.
Sony has a strong mental health care program for its employees. It has a department dediated to this. If employees feel uncomfortable using it, then Sony makes arrangements for outside help. Within the industry, Sony is highly regarded for its good working environment.
Of course, no company is perfect because the stress factor depends on each individual after all. Recent trends show that there is an increasing number of young employees who “break down” rather easily like Moriyama, for incomprehensible reasons.
According to a survey conducted by the Mental Health Research Institute, among 218 corporations listed on the stock exchange, more than 60% responded that “mental illness among their employees has increased in the last three years.
“This trend is most evident among male employees in their 20s and 30s,” said Yuichiro Tokunaga of Shiranui Hospital, a pioneer in mental health care in Japan. “The common denominator among them is their high educational background and processing power, but they lack communication skills and human interaction.”
In fact, many workplaces report declining communicational skills among young employees. “My young colleague, who sits next to me, answered a phone call for me.” said an employee is his 40s, who works in the sales division of an electronics company. “Instead of just telling me that there was a call, he emailed me. I told him to just tell me next time he takes a call for me, but then he lost his temper, saying: ‘I should not have to pick up calls for you!’ These days he keeps saying his ability is not being fully utilized in the field of sales.”
Many managers have a hard time communicating with young employees. “In my case, he never responds and never makes eye contact with me,” said one manager in his late 30s, referring to one employee. “He then kicks the copy machine yelling that ‘this is too slow!’ in a loud voice that can be heard all over the office. Who knows what he may end up doing and nobody wants to deal with him.”
“Many people who accumulate stress easily tend to be perfectionists,” said psychiatrist Hideki Wada. “These people try to work out their problems themselves rather than seeking advice from others.”
“This guy in his 20s has been working for less than 3 years and he still considers himself a rookie,” said a manager in his 40s. “He complains that I give him a hard time for assigning him more than one task at a time. He tells me this but at the same time he skips important meetings and appointments.”
“I was telling a young employee a thing or two,” says another manager in his 40s. “I wasn’t yelling at him or anything, but he interrupted me and said ‘I am the type who grows by being praised.’ But he never seems satisfied at work, even when I hand him an important project.”
“There are a few types among those who have mental issues,” said Ritsuko Yamaguchi, a journalist specializing in the field. “Most common is the one who tends to think that ‘everything is their fault.’ This thought pattern matches 70% of all Japanese diagnosed as depressed. But these days, I see an increasing number among the young work force who love themselves a bit too much, thus resulting in depression. These people have too much pride and cannot tolerate being overlooked. They cannot take orders that they deem unreasonable. Unlike those who blame themselves, these people never think that they are the ones to blame, instead passing the responsibility to others.”
During the interview, Shukan Post heard many managers of various companies commenting that “we have to treat them like a baby to get them to work,” and that “they never realize that things got screwed up because of them.”
Is there any way to spot the next potential Shinichi Moriyama before it’s too late? According to Yamaguchi, yes. She argues that those about to explode due to accumulated stress tend to behave in a certain way.
“You look for such signs as an inability to determine priorities and thus the workflow gets stuck. Eating habits and sexual desire tend to decline. They also tend not to care about their appearance and taking a bath or shower becomes less frequent.”
Another pointer is overtime and holiday work. “People with mental issues cannot start work smoothly in the morning and only get into their stride in the evening. So naturally their work does not get done in time and they tend to work overtime and come to the office on weekends,” Yamaguchi said. (Translated by Toshiya Fujii)
April 26, 2007
Japan Today Discussion
16 Total Messages (Click here to show all)
15 Messages Shown (Scroll down for most recent)
| SJG - yes... |  |
WhatJapanThinks   (Apr 26 2007 - 09:31) | Rate | Report |
Most large J companies have patent quotas, so filing is not a sign of doing well.
If it's anything like the company I work for, the Japanse definition of "mental health" does not equate to what I as a Westerner would term "mental health".
| Interesting article. | |
| urko (Apr 26 2007 - 10:32) | Rate | Report |
Hence that accident in Sapporo a couple of days ago....
| Alittle bit | |
| destry (Apr 27 2007 - 05:02) | Rate | Report |
One could consider a form of madness. Is this living ?
| I'm surprised that | |
| WMD (Apr 27 2007 - 22:39) | Rate | Report |
| Someone who | |
| Himajin (Apr 29 2007 - 18:59) | Rate | Report |
| Still | |
| WMD (Apr 30 2007 - 08:46) | Rate | Report |
| Many young employees ready to explode, warn experts | |
| FishScratchFever (May 1 2007 - 03:44) | Rate | Report |
IMO sounds like a lot more 45 year olds could fit this description than 25 year olds.
| Many young employees ready to explode, warn experts | |
| gogogo (May 1 2007 - 18:35) | Rate | Report |
There's your problem. When did teamwork go out the window?
| Many young employees ready to explode, warn experts | |
| DarrylZero (May 2 2007 - 00:30) | Rate | Report |
| This is ridiculous | |
| sandaili (May 9 2007 - 10:06) | Rate | Report |
This means also that the next time he needs "release" he can move on to humans.
Also all of you who think that Japanese workers are drones can get a life. Their office jobs are just like most US ones. Tons of stress, teamwork is valued and preached (but often falls apart), workers who give a crap about their company don't go anywhere, workers who don't give a crap still make it and muck things up, and guess what, you get paid according to how much you are "thought" to be worth to a company, vs. what you are worth, and also it helps to know someone.
Are they making sure he can't buy any more animals? Is he forced to go to counseling? Are they doing anything? Did Sony fire him? I guess no one cares. All pet shops in Japan should have his picture up.
| the guy was psychotic | |
| urko (May 9 2007 - 10:15) | Rate | Report |
And no matter how you look at it office jobs are robotic. whether you are in Japan or wherever. in fact I would rather have a staff of Japanese than foreigners. at least the J listen to instructions without trying to be clever and cock things up. sure sometimes you need independent thought, but most of the time I want my staff to follow my instructions. if I need input I'll ask,
| Smoke weed. | |
| Sufi_Dog (May 11 2007 - 16:21) | Rate | Report |
| Many young employees ready to explode, warn experts | |
| nitro (May 11 2007 - 17:14) | Rate | Report |
for someone to do cruel things to animals, they're not your average garden stressed worker, they're certifiable.
go to the gym and punch a sandbag you tool!
| Many young employees ready to explode, warn expert | |
| quagulosity (May 15 2007 - 02:40) | Rate | Report |
Consider their fathers' or grandfathers' generation and who built Japan.
When I was young and just started working - 15 years ago - I helped build Silicon Valley and the PC industry.
We worked 16 hour days. Sometimes 20. Do you think any new economic advancement or innovation comes by working 9-5 and then going home and sleeping.
Now it's true when you're 40 or 50 trying to do this may cause real mental problems as the extreme stress can do Bad Things to your body as you get older. But for anyone 18-30 there is no excuse.
Stop whinning and get out there and WORK.
| Many young employees ready to explode, warn experts | |
| amole (May 15 2007 - 10:42) | Rate | Report |
make sure you ALL get demure wives who will gladly succumb to their duties around the house and raise the kids. because you all also need to make more of those since the country is overaging.
so please.. go out and work for all day/ night and fulfill your duties to keep the population at a good level
and women, please get a grip and start staying at home again to do your share, geez
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