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[KimiNewt]

In just about every non-fantasy anime/tv-show involving Japanese people you always see them lament that their life is supposed to be "go to a good highschool, go to a good college, go into a good company and be a salaryman."

What I never saw in any of those shows is what those salaryman actually DO. It's always just them sitting in a cubicle at the computer.

Are they engineers? Unlikely, too many and engineers often enjoy their work. Are they "in finance"? "Data analysts"? What does that even mean?!
Even the wikipedia page doesn't offer any clues: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaryman

Maybe it's because all of the people writing the garbage I watch never actually worked in an office so they have no idea what these people are supposed to be doing.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

low-level office worker

 

[LyleLanley]

Isn't it just a generic term for an office worker?

 

[marzlapin]

It's just a term for a white-collar worker so it could be a lot of different jobs but yeah, often it's not important to the story so the job isn't specified.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

It's definitely not something to aspire to either lol

 

[Drencrom]

low-level office worker

You have to go through college to be a low-level office worker?

 

[Piichan]

It's the Japanese term for someone with a permanent job, typically an office worker or salesman, that steadily receives a salary every month. Japan likes labeling people in certain situations, even if the situations are not that necessarily special to Japan. Also see: freeter, NEET, etc.

low-level office worker

I like to believe I'm not low level lol.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

You have to go through college to be a low-level office worker?

College degree is pretty much a prerequisite for any office job, even entry-level scrub

It's the Japanese term for someone with a permanent job, typically an office worker or salesman, that steadily receives a salary every month. Japan likes labeling people in certain situations, even if the situations are not that necessarily special to Japan. Also see: freeter, NEET, etc.


I like to believe I'm not low level lol.

Would you actually refer to yourself as a "salaryman" though? It's not exactly a badge of pride.

 

[maquiladora]

 

[KimiNewt]

I know what the term means, and I know that it means a lot of different jobs-- but what kind of jobs? What do they sit and do all day?

 

[Kiko]

The opposite of a wageworker?

 

[Clydefrog]

 

[Shuggananas]

Unlikely, too many and engineers often enjoy their work.

Yeah I wouldn't be so sure about that

 

[Drencrom]

Also, how come these salarymen always seem so underpaid even though they seem to work so much that they aren't home enough to meet their family? Is this just shitty writing in japanse cartoons for manchildren or an actual thing? You would think an office worker that spent most of his adult life working at a company would go up in the career with an work ethic like that.

 

[marzlapin]

I know what the term means, and I know that it means a lot of different jobs-- but what kind of jobs? What do they sit and do all day?

The same things office workers anywhere else do all day.

 

[Piichan]

College degree is pretty much a prerequisite for any office job, even entry-level scrub



Would you actually refer to yourself as a "salaryman" though? It's not exactly a badge of pride.

Going by the definition I gave, it's a term that applies to me I suppose. But yeah, I suppose the term has the baggage of an oyaji in a suit just going to work to collect his paycheck. If I wanna be impressionable I say I'm a seishain and describe what my job is, and avoid using "salaryman".

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Going by the definition I gave, it's a term that applies to me I suppose. But yeah, I suppose the term has the baggage of an oyaji in a suit just going to work to collect his paycheck. If I wanna be impressionable I say I'm a seishain and describe what my job is, and avoid using "salaryman".

That's pretty much what I meant. I feel like "salaryman" has a connotation of being not very notable.

 

[Dryk]

They go to their businesses and do business transactions

The same things office workers anywhere else do all day.

I'll be honest I'm not entirely sure what they do either

 

[marzlapin]

Also, how come these salarymen always seem so underpaid even though they seem to work so much that they aren't home enough to meet their family? Is this just shitty writing in japanse cartoons for manchildren or an actual thing? You would think an office worker that spent most of his adult life working at a company would go up in the career with an work ethic like that.

It's not just working that keeps them away from their families, there's an expectation that they spend a lot of time after work doing work-related socializing. Also, long hours are expected from everyone so it isn't exceptional.

I'll be honest I'm not entirely sure what they do either

It probably involves lots of account managing. That's kind of my default when I imagine what their job actually is: account manager. I'm 100% pulling that out of my ass though.

 

[akira28]

"account executive"

 

[Supermanisdead]

I'm in Japan now and I met a salaryman who invited me for drinks tonight. I'm gonna go get wasted with them because their new employee is paying for everything. This will be a great experience I'm sure.

 

[KimiNewt]

The same things office workers anywhere else do all day.

Then I guess I don't know what office workers do anywhere. I worked as a software engineer and I'm studying for a different engineering job now, I guess the rest.. sell insurance?

 

[Drencrom]

It's not just working that keeps them away from their families, there's an expectation that they spend a lot of time after work doing work-related socializing. Also, long hours are expected from everyone so it isn't exceptional.

Right, I've actually read about this in a GAF thread before. Being a "salaryman" sounds like the defintion of hell.

 

[Shuggananas]

Also, how come these salarymen always seem so underpaid even though they seem to work so much that they aren't home enough to meet their family? Is this just shitty writing in japanse cartoons for manchildren or an actual thing? You would think an office worker that spent most of his adult life working at a company would go up in the career with an work ethic like that.

Nah it's not just an anime trope, a lot of corporations are shit towards their workers

 

[RobotChant]

9-5 grind. Though the hours and commitment may be different, the grind is probably the same.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

I'll be honest I'm not entirely sure what they do either

post on neogaf

 

[213372bu]

I know what the term means, and I know that it means a lot of different jobs-- but what kind of jobs? What do they sit and do all day?

 

[bluethree]

I know what the term means, and I know that it means a lot of different jobs-- but what kind of jobs? What do they sit and do all day?

If my experience in a Japanese government office is anything to go by - lots of pretending to do work (staring at documents a laughably long time, taking forever to do the most menial tasks, etc)

 

[I'm an expert]

Salaryman here since I was 22. It's just an all encompassing term for workers with a routine, salaried, usually office position, equivalent to 'white collar worker' in the west. The term is too generic and broad to give labels of rank or negative connotations though. I'm essentially at the top of my firm's structure and I'd still expect someone to call me a salaryman, with absolutely no offense taken.

As for what 'we' do, again, it's broad, but salaryman usually equals someone in banking/financial services/legal services/HR/sales services/supply chain/marketing/management/etc. So yes, your stereotypical examples of lawyers, bankers, accountants, pharma salesmen, inventory managers, product managers, brand managers. It doesn't really apply to rank, the newest guy and the ceo are still both salarymen.

Other salaried positions that have the same 'routine' as a salaryman but aren't really seen as one are ones like clerks/admins, IT/programmers, doctors, civil/public employees, engineers, and so on. They usually have their own terms or get lumped into other broader groups.

Edit: I guess I should add there are also certain professional/cultural expectations of salarymen that may not exist or may exist in different forms for other careers.