午夜剧场

In present-day Japan, many people suffer from long working hours. Long working hours damage the physical and mental health of workers and limit the careers of those who cannot work long hours. At my previous workplace, the normalization of long working hours was also viewed as a problem. My colleagues all said it was "painful," and the head of the department struggled to reduce overtime. However, there was no sign of long working hours decreasing at all.

Looking closely, it seemed that even when doing the same overtime, the reasons differed from person to person. While some were desperately working overtime because they could not finish their work, others seemed to be working overtime simply because they wanted to be there. While some said, "It's unthinkable to go home on time if you're doing proper work," there were new employees who were afraid of those seniors and felt they couldn't leave even if they wanted to. I realized that "working hours" are not determined by the amount of work alone. Each human being has their own thoughts and views on work, and these are reflected in their working hours. Moreover, it is not just individual ability; the influence of relationships with surrounding people and the atmosphere of the department is also significant. It is complex, I thought. Most people working overtime probably do not clearly understand why they are doing it themselves. Unless this complexity is unraveled, long working hours cannot be reduced, and even if they could be reduced, dissatisfaction would only grow. My current self is struggling every day to somehow express this complexity of long working hours through numerical data.

The results of two surveys showed that the reasons for overtime were diverse, including a heavy workload, peer pressure, overtime pay, enjoyment of work, and the desire for self-growth. Furthermore, those with particularly long working hours were divided into those doing involuntary overtime due to heavy workloads or peer pressure, and those doing voluntary overtime for the sake of work enjoyment or self-growth. Despite having almost the same working hours, these two groups differed greatly in terms of mental health issues and work motivation. This means that even within the same department, the reasons for overtime differ by individual, and the impacts and effective measures against long working hours are likely to differ as well.

I myself sometimes work overtime. On such days, I head home with a slight sense of accomplishment and fatigue. I sometimes think to myself that I don't really know why I worked overtime either.