Is Low Engagement Baked into the Japanese Employment System?

In a previous article I reflected on two cultural factors that might negatively influence engagement survey results in Japan. This time, I’d like to look into how low engagement might be baked into the Japanese employment system in its traditional form.

The Hidden Mismatch at the Start of a Career

In Japan, university students follow a highly structured job-hunting process that typically begins in March of their junior year which results in a formal confirmation by October. Despite good intentions on both sides, this is often where the seeds of disengagement are sown. A survey of over 400 new hires found that about 45% felt a gap between their expectations and the reality of working life, with the main sources of disappointment being excessive overtime and limited training or development support. Yet, despite this mismatch, according to the same survey, around 60% still planned to stay with their company.

As Kosuke Sato notes in Reflecting on “Work” in Japan, many students must make career-shaping decisions based on limited or superficial impressions. Once reality sets in, disillusionment or even distrust can take root. According to Adecco’s survey on why new graduates quit within 3 years, the number one reason given was the mismatch between their wishes and the actual work.

I’ve seen gradual disengagement firsthand in the new grad development programs I’ve led. By the second year the honeymoon period appears to have worn off, performance reviews for the first year might not have met their expectations and their team leader’s expectations, and some might be second guessing their career choice.

The result? A large population of newly hired university graduates who are sticking it out with their originally chosen company despite their perceived feelings of the gap that exists between what they signed up for and what they got. And when the annual engagement survey arrives, it can become an outlet for their unspoken frustration.

A System That Suppresses Autonomy and Emotion

There are two key issues for Japanese employees that also appear to be weakening engagement: the lack of sick leave, the feeling of guilt, and the resulting tendency to hoard paid leave for emergencies. According to the 2024 MHLW Employment Overview, only about 30% of Japanese companies offer sick leave, compared to roughly 80% in the U.S.

Expedia’s global data places Japan near the bottom in paid leave usage at 63%, far behind the U.S., U.K., and France, all of which exceed 90%. Common reasons for not taking leave include understaffing, saving days for emergencies, and being too busy.

Kosuke Sato in his paper also notes that guilt plays a significant role. According to a website created by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare to promote annual leave usage, 70% of employees hesitate to take time off because they feel it would burden their colleagues.

I’ve hoarded paid leave myself and ended up only using paid leave when it was about to expire. This is a common issue for Japanese companies. To comply with the legal requirement that companies designate at least five days annually, we were instructed to take our soon-to-expire paid leave during the final week of the year.

Beyond time off, Kosuke highlights other structural issues that erode engagement: vague or infrequent feedback, unclear job roles, and limited autonomy. Employees often lack the ability to align their work with their strengths or interests. Many companies speak of engagement, but few make the structural or behavioral changes required to support it.

What Can We Do About It?

The roots of low engagement in Japan are systemic, and any meaningful change will take time. Still, we have to start somewhere in order to bring positive change to the current system. Here are some ideas that I think will get the ball rolling and help sustain early career engagement.

For Management:

Arrange panel discussion with current employees as part of the new grad hiring process: New grads should feel comfortable enough to ask questions about what it is really like to work at the company. Provide the new grads with a list of tough questions they might not think to ask or might be too shy to ask.
Reinforce a culture that respects work-life balance. Ensure HR policies support work-life balance, and have management model the behaviors you want to promote.
Prioritize career development and provide tools for tracking: Clarify the team member’s support team (i.e. their manager, HR, etc.) as well as the in house tools that team members can use on their own to take ownership of and track their career development.
Help new hires see the meaning in their work. Show how their efforts contribute to the team, department, and company. Provide recognition for what they accomplish both big and small.
Reframe leave-taking as part of performance. Normalize time off and modeling it at the leadership level and linking it to well-being and sustainable productivity. Offer sick leave separate from regular paid leave days.

For New Grads:

Take ownership of your career development. Learn what tools and resources are available, get to know your support network, and use one-on-one meetings to share your progress and ask for guidance.
Ask for clarity. Understand how your role contributes to your team, department, and company, and reflect on what makes that meaningful to you.
Stay curious, not passive. Actively seek new experiences, explore different functions, and learn from more experienced colleagues to shape your career path.
Remember, engagement is a two-way street. The company sets the stage, but your mindset and actions play a key role in creating a meaningful and rewarding work experience.

How about you? What ideas do you have for stemming the path to disengagement?