Overwork-linked suicides in Japan

[GodNickSatan]

Overwork-linked suicides in Japan have doubled over the past five years

TOKYO — A new government report says the number of Japanese who committed or attempted suicide due to overwork and stress has doubled in the past five years.

The Health Ministry report says 81 people killed themselves or attempted suicide in 2007 - compared with 40 in 2003 - due to work-related problems.

Last year also saw a record 268 people with officially recognized work stress-induced mental illness.

The report says employees in their 30s and 40s were most prone to stress because more companies have introduced a pay-per-performance system in recent years.

Many of the officially recognized work-related suicides were among people working overtime of between 80 and 100 hours per month.

About 10 per cent of them did more than 160 hours of overtime, or an average of five hours extra daily, including weekends.

Under Health Ministry guidelines, relatives of an employee who dies after filing a monthly overtime report of 80 hours or longer are entitled to receive compensation from an employer.

The 81 suicide cases in 2007 classified as work stress-related by the Health Ministry were only a fraction of Japan's total number of suicides.

According to the latest government statistics available, 32,155 people killed themselves in Japan 2006.

The government has launched a series of anti-suicide programs to help those with depression and other mental conditions.

The Canadian Press: Overwork-linked suicides in Japan have doubled over the past five years

[ShintoCanadianmale]

can they take vacation time?

[noireen]

My brother worked for Toshiba computer company for 4 years in Japan and then quit his job and came back to states.
He loved Japan but could not handle being overworked in the company. The more hours he put in, he said he was required to work more to compete for better salary and to keep his job.
Now he is back in US and working for bank making more money with less working hours.
I think this news is more geared toward people who works for the corporate company like my brother did in the past.

They need to change the cause of the problem instead of providing benefits after they kill themselves. For example, set a limit to how much a company can make a person work a week or something.

The thing is, these people have no choice but continue overworking themselves to provide support for their family unless they want to be fired from their jobs... Pretty sad imo.

[jrocka83]

I can't believe how popular suicides are in Japan. Something interesting, they even take off there shoes before they jump.

It must be like the old samurai way, if you’re a failure kill yourself.

One of the new things, is some type of gas, I forget whit it is called. However, the local PD here issued a warning to all residents. That the gas may leak into other peoples homes. There have been innocent by-standers in the past.

[allie2590]

Originally Posted by jrocka83

I can't believe how popular suicides are in Japan. Something interesting, they even take off there shoes before they jump.

It must be like the old samurai way, if you’re a failure kill yourself.

One of the new things, is some type of gas, I forget whit it is called. However, the local PD here issued a warning to all residents. That the gas may leak into other peoples homes. There have been innocent by-standers in the past.

Carbon monoxide? That's not unheard of.

[jrocka83]

Originally Posted by allie2590

Carbon monoxide? That's not unheard of.

No its not Carbon Monoxide. Its some type of gas you buy from the store. I remember reading it in the news paper about a month ago.

[jrocka83]

Its hydrogen sulphide.! thats it.

Dozens hit by Japan 'suicide gas'
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Dozens hit by Japan 'suicide gas'

[theAlphaDuck]

yea...they work hard...

funny thing is...

the harder people work, the less questions they ask.

could there be a link between the acceptance of the status quo and the long hours worked...

also in Japan Unions are almost unheard of.

and if you kill yourself under a train your family get given a hefty fine!

[Kaminogirl22]

Suicides in Japan are sad.

[noodle]

I always wonder about this because I always here stories of how the workforce is Japan is terribly inefficient unless they're part of a huge company (i.e. Sony). The inefficiency was generally related to lack of work during core work hours. Then you hear about things like this; people work too hard In the end, this is terribly confusing, so my guess is, suicide probably has something to do with Culture, more than anything. I've been told by Japanese students that sometimes parents/older people commit suicide so that they are not a burden to their kids...