“Hatarakanai Ojisan,” an Old Guy that Doesn’t Work

There has been a recent trend in Japanese news and magazines about a group of people referred to as “Hatarakanai Ojisan“, which translates to “old guy that doesn’t work”. This nickname is used to describe individuals in their 50s and older who earn higher salaries than younger employees and is considered to be disrespectful.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Japanese companies began implementing teleworking and as a result, individuals like Hatarakanai Ojisan, older men in their 50s and above who do not work, began to emerge.

I was surprised to hear a colleague say, “I’ll be working from home, could you handle messaging the client for me?” and “I won’t be able to take phone calls because I’m working from home.” Despite not having completed his essential tasks of emailing and calling, it seems he was allowed to work from home.

In Japan, seniority systems have been commonly used by companies. Despite the increasing usage of a performance-based evaluation system, which evaluates work performance without considering age, it is not yet fully implemented.

In other words, there are companies whose salaries increase as the number of years of service increases. Eyewitness testimonies that there are “old guys who don’t work,” even though they gain high salaries, are being seen everywhere. The word Hatarakanai Ojisan, an old guy that doesn’t work, is becoming widely used.

Servay by experts shows 49.2% of respondents answered that they have Hatarakanai Ojisan at the company.

According to a survey of experts, 49.2% of respondents reported having a co-worker known as Hatarakanai Ojisan.

Furthermore, more than 90% of people in which respondents said they got a negative impact from Hatarakanai Ojisan.

Hatarakanai Ojisan is doing the below activities during working hours.

Taking breaks 49.4%
Chilling out at the desk 47.7%
Talking rubbish 47.3%
Internet surfing 35.3%
Researching personal hobbies 28.7%

Source: Wikipedia

According to younger employees, Hatarakanai Ojisan doesn’t seem to be fulfilling his duties despite receiving a high salary. He often passes on tasks to us if he is unfamiliar with the latest system, and he is difficult to reach by phone. This behaviour is causing harm to younger employees.

The worst case is that Hatarakanai Ojisan doesn’t work, increases employees’ tasks and consumes employees’ time by talking rubbish.

On the other hand, Hatarakanai Ojisan wants to say something to young employees, such as, “They are not aggressive enough, ” and “Their working style is just too frank and simple, unlike us.”

But it’s not like everyone is a Hatarakanai Ojisan. When a negative image of a particular group gradually takes root in society over a long period, discrimination and prejudice are generated, resulting in “group discrimination.”

Whether true or not, the theory is that people who gain a high salary due to the seniority system are more likely to be held grudges and be called Hatarakanai Ojisan.