Top Ten Japanese Jobs That Lead To An Early Death
by Beth on Wednesday, July 17, 2013
by Beth on Wednesday, July 17, 2013
From Nikkan SPA:
Top Ten Jobs That’ll Make You Die Young
Subcontractor Systems Engineers In IT Business Come In At No.2!
For Japanese salarymen, with their relentless daily pace, most of their life is taken up by their jobs. Therefore choosing a job has a significant effect on how long you live. Haibara Fujio, who has worked as an industrial physician in several different industries, told us the following:
“With the exception of work that is very dangerous and where accidents occur easily, broadly speaking there are two primary factors that connect where you work to how long you live. One is whether or not you have any discretionary power. The more you can control your own job yourself, the lower your stress levels will be, thus prolonging your life. The other factor is working too much, eating too much, and drinking too much alcohol. Obviously it’s bad for your health when you work long hours, where it is common to work overtime until the small hours, or through the night, and where you have to drink excessively to entertain clients.
Focussing on these two points, the job in which one is most likely to die young would be as salesperson for a large advertising agency. For people who work in advertising sales, working through the night is the excessive hard work that is expected as part of the job; however they have very little discretionary power. In addition to this, it is not unusual for them to drink heavily day after day as they entertain their clients. While their salary and status is high, their bodies bear the burden”.
Other jobs that were high up in the ranking in the same way were “IT business subcontractor systems engineer” and “manager of a chain pub/bar”.
One surprising job that entered the ranking was “young bureaucrat”.
“We have the impression that bureaucrats are the elite, that they get favourable treatment, but that’s only the senior bureaucrats. Japan is essentially a vertical society through its seniority system, so as a rule young people are badly paid, and are made to work late into the night. In fact, there is some data to suggest that out of every 20 young bureaucrats who enter a certain government ministry, 3 will have committed suicide within 10 years”.
Furthermore, jobs in which working hours are irregular, in addition to the two factors stated above, have a significant effect on someone’s lifespan.
“An irregular lifestyle is, naturally, harmful to the body. That is to say that jobs where there are unscheduled nightshifts, rather than those that have these shifts daily, place a strain on health. For example, nurses who work on wards, company taxi drivers, long-distance truck drivers. The people who do these jobs will have one night shift every few days, and therefore their bodily rhythms are easily disrupted. Furthermore, each of these jobs is managed from above, so these workers have no discretionary power. Cabin attendants are treated well if they work for big companies, and they can take holidays in between flights, but cabin attendants on low-cost carriers have poor wages, and work hard boarding flight after flight in order to reduce costs. These workers are shaving years off their lifespans”.
Japanese low-cost carrier Peach (image source)
No matter how high your social status or salary, it’s meaningless if you destroy your body in the process. It’s probably the case that people who don’t work in any of the jobs mentioned above are “winners” in terms of their health. In the July 16 edition of Shukan SPA!, we will publish the “People Who Die Young Chart Ranking” from a variety of different spheres, so how about checking it out?
【Top 10 Jobs That’ll Make You Die Young】
No.1: Salesperson for a large advertising agency
No.2: IT business subcontractor systems engineer
No.3: Manager of a chain pub/bar
No.4: Young bureaucrat
No.5: Ward nurse
No.6: Taxi driver
No.7: Low-cost carrier cabin attendant
No.8: Member of the Self Defence Forces
No.9: Teacher at a public school
No. 10: Truck driver
