Sacrificing it All – For the Love of Money

What if you had the opportunity to work for a prominent organization that offers

great benefits and a substantial salary?   Financial security, respect, and society’s acceptance all come with the package. Many people seek these type of jobs in order to feel validated and accepted by the world. However, there’s a disadvantage to all of this, you must sacrifice your family, personal life and health.  In “Why I Quit the Company” Tomoyuki Iwashita describes his experience while working for a prestigious company in Japan.  He plainly explains that financial gain and society’s approval are not worth it, and I agree with him.  

            Iwashita became physically unable to do anything other commit all of his time to the company.    As soon as he began working for the company he was assigned a room at the company’s fancy dormitory, where most of the single employees lived. He continuously worked extended hours and was expected to socialize with colleagues and clients after hours or on the weekends.  A bank, doctor’s office, post office and other services were located at the office building, thereby making it unnecessary for employees to communicate with the outside world, a company tactic used to isolate workers and make them become dependant on what the company has to offer.  The company claims it spent 400,000 a year in order to keep an employee.  Many employees didn’t claim the overtime due to them if they were not making a profit for the company; feeling as if they weren’t contributing to the overall well being of the company.

I too worked for a well-known institution for thirteen years.   Although, the salary was not as appealing as Iwashita’s, the prestige that came with the position is what kept me with the organization.  I was dedicated, loyal and invested all my time and energy in the job.  I was, no doubt, the career driven woman. As part of the management team, we often had meetings geared towards developing strategies to get the staff to take ownership of the job.  The essential idea was to brainwash employees to buy in to what the organization was trying to achieve, without compensating them properly for their time and efforts.  I worked an average 65 hours a week.   The last three years of my employment I was given two additional departments to manage.  Someone in the organization had to do the extra work and since I was dedicated and had longevity, I got the extra work, which meant extra hours.  How could I possibly say no?  I was doing it for the “good” of the company. 

            Overtiredness and overworked was not uncommon for Iwashita.  He was so exhausted that he had no energy to analyze his situation. Karoshi, which is known as death from overwork is common among Japanese employees.  After Iwashita collapsed his boss stated “You should control his health; it’s your own fault.”   The company didn’t offer paid sick leave. Like Iwashita, my health also began to fail.  I was unable to attend doctor’s appointments. I experienced severe migraine, dizzy spells and mild anxiety attacks.   During the middle of my pregnancy, I was put on bed rest, due to the threat of an early delivery.      

The Japanese company also controlled the private lives of its employees; financial rewards and incentives were used as a tactic to manipulate employees into planning their family and/or personal life around the company.  There is no time to spend with their wives and children. For example, married employees who are sent abroad have to leave their families in Japan for the first year.  These children do not have the benefit of their fathers communicating and partaking in the childrearing process, which leaves these children disadvantaged within their competitive society.  Similarly, my children development also began to suffer.  I was unable to attend parent/teacher conferences, school performances or engage in a productive relationship with their school.  The childrearing process was left to the babysitter.  I was the invisible parent.

            As in the Japanese culture, Americans too value being successful within their careers.  Does this have to mean trading your personal life, for wealth, status and society’s respect?   For most the answer is yes, but like Iwashita I chose to enhance the quality of my life.  Although doing well in the workforce can be extremely rewarding, I believe there should be a balance between your personal life and your career, especially if you have a family.  That means prioritizing what matters the most, for me, it’s my physical, mental and spiritual health so that I may create a life style that meets all the needs of my family.