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Work Environment

🌏 Colleague Nationality (Engineers)

61% of respondents who were born in Japan worked at a company where the majority of their engineering colleagues were Japanese, compared to only 19% of those who were not born in Japan.

Respondents who said all of their engineering colleagues were Japanese had the lowest compensation, with a median of ¥5.5 million.

0%
7%
13%
20%
26%
33%
1

All Japanese

48
2

Mostly Japanese

108
3

A mix of both

235
4

Mostly non-Japanese

238
5

All non-Japanese

97
0%
7%
13%
20%
26%
33%
% of question respondents
What are the nationalities of your colleagues who are engineers?

🌏 Colleague Nationality (Non-Engineers)

When all of a respondent's non-engineer colleagues were non-Japanese, 97% worked on an engineering team where all their colleagues were non-Japanese. The reverse wasn't true though. When all of a respondent's non-engineer colleagues were Japanese, only 29% worked on an engineering team where all their colleagues were Japanese.

0%
9%
17%
26%
35%
44%
1

All Japanese

152
2

Mostly Japanese

315
3

A mix of both

158
4

Mostly non-Japanese

57
5

All non-Japanese

39
0%
9%
17%
26%
35%
44%
% of question respondents
What are the nationalities of your colleagues who are not engineers?

💬 Japanese Usage

Given that only 40% of respondents said they spoke Japanese at a professional level, it's not surprising that only 32% of respondents said they frequently or always used Japanese with their colleagues.

0%
5%
11%
16%
22%
27%
1

Never

179
2

Rarely

198
3

Sometimes

123
4

Frequently

103
5

Always

133
0%
5%
11%
16%
22%
27%
% of question respondents
How frequently do you use Japanese at your workplace?

💬 English Usage

Respondents who frequently or always used English had the highest compensation, with a median of ¥9.5 million. Those who never used or rarely used English had the lowest compensation, with a median of ¥5.5 million. These respondents also had the lowest median years of professional experience. However, even when controlling for experience, those who never or rarely used English had the lowest compensation.

0%
12%
24%
36%
48%
60%
1

Never

45
2

Rarely

65
3

Sometimes

47
4

Frequently

140
5

Always

442
0%
12%
24%
36%
48%
60%
% of question respondents
How frequently do you use English at your workplace?

⚧ Colleague Gender

The gender of engineering colleagues wasn't correlated with the gender of the respondent.

0%
13%
25%
38%
50%
63%
1

All male

116
2

Mostly male

456
3

Mixed

150
4

Mostly female or non-binary

3
5

All female or non-binary

3
0%
13%
25%
38%
50%
63%
% of question respondents
What is the gender of your colleagues who are engineers?

🕐 Hours per week

72% of respondents regularly worked 40 hours or less per week.

0%
11%
23%
34%
45%
57%
1

Less than 30 hours

73
2

31-35 hours

36
3

36-40 hours

405
4

41-45 hours

113
5

46-50 hours

66
6

Over 50 hours

23
0%
11%
23%
34%
45%
57%
% of question respondents
In a typical week, how many hours do you work?

🏝️ Remote Work Policy

While in 2023, 43% of respondents could make the choice of coming into the office or not, this was down to 38% this year, with those subject to a hybrid policy increasing by a corresponding amount.

Respondents who were not allowed to work remotely had the lowest professional satisfaction.

0%
8%
15%
23%
30%
38%
1

No remote work

62
2

Hybrid

265
3

Up to the employee

268
4

Fully remote

112
0%
8%
15%
23%
30%
38%
% of question respondents
What best describes your employer's remote work policy?

💸 Paid Leave Percentage

55% of respondents anticipated they'd use at least 80% of their paid leave. Among respondents who engineering colleagues were all Japanese, this dropped to 47%, while among those who had no Japanese colleagues, it increased to 64%.

0%
11%
22%
33%
44%
55%
1

0-19%

66
2

20-39%

50
3

40-59%

85
4

60-79%

107
5

80-100%

381
0%
11%
22%
33%
44%
55%
% of question respondents
What percentage of your paid leave do you anticipate you'll use this year?

😀 Workplace Perks

Those who were not looking for a job reported aspects of their workplace as being positive at a much higher rate than those who were actively looking. For instance, while 82% of respondents who were not looking for a job said they were satisfied with their working conditions, only 48% of those who were looking for a job said the same.

0%
14%
28%
42%
56%
70%
1

Work-life balance

498
2

Working conditions

486
3

Coworkers relations

470
4

Job security

379
5

Company culture

356
6

Compensation

335
7

Work content

319
8

Cultural differences

133
9

Language differences

132
10

Training

99
0%
14%
28%
42%
56%
70%
% of question respondents
What are the positive aspects of the working environment at your current employer?

☹️ Workplace Difficulties

Those who had to attend an office were more negative about their workplace than those who could work fully remotely on every aspect we surveyed except job security. Company culture was especially negative for those who could not work remotely, with 53% saying it was a negative aspect of their job, compared to 16% of those who worked in a fully remotely environment.

0%
9%
18%
27%
36%
45%
1

Compensation

252
2

Training

193
3

Company culture

168
4

Work content

154
5

Language differences

120
6

Cultural differences

110
7

Work-life balance

103
8

Job security

90
9

Coworkers relations

66
10

Working conditions

66
0%
9%
18%
27%
36%
45%
% of question respondents
What are the negative aspects of the working environment at your current employer?

🏆 Most Important Benefit

49% of respondents said remote work was their most important benefit, taking the top spot with no overtime a distant second at 12%.

The more remote a company's work policy, the more likely respondents were to say remote work was their most important benefit. While 36% of respondents working in a hybrid environment said it was their most important benefit, 72% of those in a fully remotely environment said the same.

0%
10%
20%
29%
39%
49%
1

Remote work

319
2

No overtime

77
3

Generous vacation policy

58
4

RSUs or stock options

52
5

Housing allowance or support

44
6

Food and drinks (free or subsidized)

34
7

Japanese lessons (free or subsidized)

25
8

Training (free or subsidized)

19
9

Company clubs or activities

14
10

Books (free or subsidized)

11
0%
10%
20%
29%
39%
49%
% of question respondents
Besides your salary, which benefit offered by your employer is the most important to you?