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Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

bbc.com

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Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#201

Post by mrep »

asdff wrote: post #151
lnsru wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously!? I thought, Germany was unique with this fax machine thing.

A surprising amount of American personal business is still dependent on a fax machine. Especially in dealings with government, if you can't physically hand it in, it may need to be faxed. Always a terrifying feeling when you send a document containing all your personal identifying information to the fax nether, hopefully you dialed correctly.

I recently had to get a copy of my car loan from chase in order to get new state license plates after moving. The 2 options for delivery were by mail or fax...

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#202

Post by patwolf »

wikibob wrote: post #196
SenHeng wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what benmw333 is referring to. The Panasonic Let's. Despite how bulky it looks, it weighs about the same as the macbook air. It's basically used by anyone who isn't a manager, designer or software developer. You see them everywhere . https://biz.panasonic.com/jp-ja/products-services/letsnote/l...

Is that.... No it can't be... Is that a CD ROM Tray? On a new production 2020 laptop?

I used to work on software with a lot of international customers. On every release we had to go through rigorous testing to ensure our product could be installed off of CD-ROMs solely for use by the Japanese market.

This was 10 years ago, but even then CD-ROMs seemed antiquated. It doesn't surprise me that Japan would be one place they're still common.

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#203

Post by cdavid »

Barrin92 wrote: post #186
cdavid wrote: post #97

I am quite bearish about the impact of WFH, especially for software engineers, but if there is one country where I think the coronavirus can have a huge positive effect for the economy, it is Japan. Japanese companies are generally extremely inefficient. Outside of a few powerhouses, partially thanks to a protected and large domestic market, Japanese labor practices are antiquated. There is a culture of overwork that…

>There is a culture of overwork that begets a culture of inefficiency that boggles the mind. Few people know that Japan has a labor productivity lower than Italy, for example. If you spent so much time at the workplace like the Japanese you end up with a low producivity on paper pretty much by definition, because it's simply output divided by amount of time worked. But I wouldn't overestimate the importance of comput…

>If you spent so much time at the workplace like the Japanese you end up with a low producivity on paper pretty much by definition, because it's simply output divided by amount of time worked.

It is not as simple as that: in general, more developed countries tend to have higher labor productivity. Japan has been historically low for several decades.

I'm no specialist of labor statistics, but note that Japan actaually worked fewers hours than Italy , accoding to OECD anyaway: https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=ANHRS. I am pretty sure that most people unfamiliar w/ Japan would not place its productivity as low as it is, close to countries like Turkey or Slovakia.

>Here in Germany we have a similar paper culture (although not quite as extreme) but very high labour productivity

I am familiar with both countries, worked in both, and it is nowhere near comparable. But paper is only part of it. The overtime culture is quite intense. I still vividly remember my first work experience in Japan > 15 years ago, with 3-4 hours-long meetings where half the members, including the lab's head, were sleeping.

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#204

Post by bonestamp2 »

asdff wrote: post #151
lnsru wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously!? I thought, Germany was unique with this fax machine thing.

A surprising amount of American personal business is still dependent on a fax machine. Especially in dealings with government, if you can't physically hand it in, it may need to be faxed. Always a terrifying feeling when you send a document containing all your personal identifying information to the fax nether, hopefully you dialed correctly.

Yep... dealing with a large US bank right now and fax is the only way to do what I need to do. I made an inquiry at the IRS last year, fax was my only option for submitting some info they needed to fulfill my request. Fax is not dead in the US yet.

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#205

Post by bobthepanda »

Barrin92 wrote: post #186
cdavid wrote: post #97

I am quite bearish about the impact of WFH, especially for software engineers, but if there is one country where I think the coronavirus can have a huge positive effect for the economy, it is Japan. Japanese companies are generally extremely inefficient. Outside of a few powerhouses, partially thanks to a protected and large domestic market, Japanese labor practices are antiquated. There is a culture of overwork that…

>There is a culture of overwork that begets a culture of inefficiency that boggles the mind. Few people know that Japan has a labor productivity lower than Italy, for example. If you spent so much time at the workplace like the Japanese you end up with a low producivity on paper pretty much by definition, because it's simply output divided by amount of time worked. But I wouldn't overestimate the importance of comput…

One major issue with paper vs digital is that paper scales really, really badly. IIRC (I can't find the article) there was a marked difference between how easy it was to access COVID benefits in Korea (where the process was entirely digital) vs Japan (where you had to show up to an office and fill out paperwork)

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#206

Post by cdavid »

laurieg wrote: post #165
derefr wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The culture of the customer is always right also implies making contortions to please them, including many on site meetings where you have to be there just as a sign of respect. I've always wondered if there could be something like a badge you could put on your business, to signal that you're participating in a separate sub-economy where the customer isn't always right. There must be modern companies where both sid…

Perhaps one of the biggest barriers to fast moving SV style startups would be how difficult firing is in Japan. You need around 18 months to fire an ineffective employee. (And in contested cases I've heard of an employee who stayed on payroll for 4 years while the firing was finalised). It's one reason why people often face being harassed to the point of resignation rather than formally fired.

Indeed. It is particularly depressing to handle as a manager, because unless you have top notch HR, your only recourse to deal with somebody who does not perform is passive agressiveness, or at best plain ignorance. Imagine the effect on the morale for other people.

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#207

Post by stu2b50 »

29athrowaway wrote: post #181
cdavid wrote: post #97

I am quite bearish about the impact of WFH, especially for software engineers, but if there is one country where I think the coronavirus can have a huge positive effect for the economy, it is Japan. Japanese companies are generally extremely inefficient. Outside of a few powerhouses, partially thanks to a protected and large domestic market, Japanese labor practices are antiquated. There is a culture of overwork that…

> Especially women are often relegated to menial work I think this is the phenomenon you describe (Office ladies): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_lady But not all women are like this. There are career oriented women that are not interested in menial work or becoming housewives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyaria%C5%ABman

There's a difference between being relegated and being interested. He's saying that current business culture causes many women to work menial office jobs, not that the women themselves are not ambitious.

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#208

Post by neilparikh »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #71
xen2xen1 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm intensely curious about how this will affect larger cities like Tokyo if the trend stays. Isn't / wasn't the real estate prices in Tokyo super important for the Japanese economy? If workers could suddenly move out to the burbs how would that affect places like Tokyo?

High real estate prices don't help most economies. Neither do high oil prices, high energy prices, high raw-materials prices, high food prices, or other high prices. Exceptions apply if your local economy is in that sector specifically, but this prosperity only comes at the expense of output everywhere else. In the ultimate economy, everything is free and you can have as much as you want.

Exactly, high real estate costs just mean that the barrier to entry for new businesses is higher, and that margins (for businesses and individuals) are smaller.

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#209

Post by FrojoS »

rsync wrote: post #161
SenHeng wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what benmw333 is referring to. The Panasonic Let's. Despite how bulky it looks, it weighs about the same as the macbook air. It's basically used by anyone who isn't a manager, designer or software developer. You see them everywhere . https://biz.panasonic.com/jp-ja/products-services/letsnote/l...

Wow - look at this picture: https://content.biz.panasonic.com/jp-ja/fai/15800/raw This is not from a wayback machine copy of dynamism.com - this is a new, Windows 10 laptop in 2020 (!)

Wow. 19.5h of battery life!

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#210

Post by gmantg »

TuringNYC wrote: post #117
azuriten wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I could somehow guarantee a remote-work job for the foreesable future I'd love to move back and live somewhere more countryside but still with decent links to Tokyo such as the Shonan area or even somewhere a bit more east of Kichijoji like Hachioji or Ome.

I think this is the key thing. 75% of our family's problems would be solved if we could untangle ourselves from the burden of having to live in job-driven-metro areas close to the office. Mortgages would no longer be a problem, neither would school districts, neither would crushing commutes. Neither would childcare, since we'd have enough room in the house for help.

Good for you, not so good for your employer. Expensive mortgages is a big stick that motivates people to work.
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