Low IT pay stifles Japan’s digital transformation

23 comments

1. Can I ask a side question? What exactly is IT? As I understand it, it stands for Information Technology. At work, IT means the department that manages all the computers, and helps people with troubleshooting.

   I see posts all over r/japanlife about people getting “IT jobs.” This article just talks about “IT engineers” and “IT professionals.” Is it just any work involving computers? Again on Reddit, I see people talk about crazy high salaries and tons of certification. But I also see people saying they want to take an online course and move from teaching to IT. That makes it seem like an easy transition. Is it just a catch-all term for the industry and is anything from tech support to full network engineering?

   tl;dr: What is IT? It seems like a vague term encompassing many jobs with a wide range of salaries and demands.

2. I got an offer for 400man that was 40 hours a week plus 25 hours overtime unpaid included. I talked them up to 550man but they wouldn’t budge in the 25 hours unpaid overtime. I told them no.

   Shit salaries if you include the extra unpaid work.

3. Low pay is one thing, but for me personally, that’s not what is holding me back.

   I have been seriously thinking about finding a job in Japan in IT to further my studies of the Japanese language. But the working conditions just doesn’t make it worth my time.

   I come from a country with strong unions and 25+ vacation days/year. Having to work mandatory overtime without compensation is just not going to happen, they would have to pay me an astronomical sum of money for that to be even considered.

   As it is now, using my yearly ~38 days of vacation to go to Japan to study and vacation is a way better option for me.

4. https://archive.ph/tdZWF

   “The median annual income of senior IT and internet professionals in the U.S. and China is 8% to 10% higher than the all-sector median, according to a 2021 survey by U.S. consultancy Mercer. In Japan, however, the median for IT and internet experts is 2% lower than the overall figure as wages do not reflect market forces.”

5. Try doing IT in Okinawa. I was once in a situation where getting a soda from the vending machine outside was a major financial decision. It fucking sucked. I loved the work I did at the time (mostly some development work on a small team), but the pay was pretty awful especially with 3 kids. Things are improving, but very slowly.

6. In my disillusioned mid-20s I had wondered what it would be like to uproot for Japan, since it seemed like such a lovely place when I visited.

   Among the many reasons I decided it didn’t make sense was that as an experienced software engineer I would likely only find jobs that paid half or less of what I make in the US. The wage gap between countries is absolutely staggering.

   I feel like the only way it’d make sense economically for someone already established in their careers to move and work there is if transferring to the Japan division of a foreign company that didn’t operate their business in such a stiff, tradition-based manner. It just wouldn’t make sense to suffer such an enormous pay cut AND be subjected to the strict seniority-based job system described here, where compensation starts low and the prospects for advancement are virtually nil. It’s no wonder that they have trouble filling these positions if they’re not willing to pay people what they’re worth.

7. Can Japanese developers not take remote work for global companies earning double what the local companies offer? How does this wage difference persist?

   In a lot of Japanese industries the English language barrier is their most preventing employees from doing better internationally but their IT staff presumably already have the required English if they are capable it staff.

   So what gives?

8. I apologize for my solely anecdotal evidence on this issue, but encountering Japanese IT professionals in the past has suggested to me that Japanese companies hold a near-contempt for fundamental skills such as programming. It has seemed these companies consider programming to be a menial task fit only for the newest employees. As such, company culture perhaps encourages employees to get promoted beyond such fundamental skills as quickly as possible.

   I am a programmer of somewhat senior age, and my occasional Japanese colleagues have apparently viewed me with a mixture of confusion and disgust. I have always wondered if they could not understand why I would remain in an unrespected career track.

   Perhaps my generalization is very poor, but if there were any truth to it, it seems as though overcoming such an ingrained attitude towards programming might be a major challenge for Japanese business culture.

9. This is what has been annoying me the past few years.

   I’m a Project Leader / Manager / Front End and App Developer making over 7m a year in Japan when I could be getting double that in the US.

   However, I joined a recruiting site to see my options and most job offers were for 6m to 9m a year. Not much of a pay increase and not worth it since I’m currently 100% remote.

10. I work for a Japanese company in Vietnam and as of right now they still allow us to have about 400 paper forms for everything ranging from ordering stationery to running supply chain. We so have SAP for important functions of course but paper forms and ink signatures still dominate our lives while SharePoint and Office 365 has been in use for the last 10 years. They won’t push for digital transformation at all.

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12. I love how this subreddit can be so different and refreshing from r/japanlife

    The IT monkeys there can be so smug there for some reason. I’m glad to see some of you chose a better work life balance and more money. Good for you.

13. Is there an article in there somewhere? Behind a paywall? Because all I see is a short paragraph that tells me nothing of substance.

14. I’d like to ask a side question. What work in Japan exactly offers high salaries? All of the salaries seem so dismal.

15. There are kids (19~25) making over 400k/year in San Francisco.

    Japan can’t compete with that, can’t even dream about it.

16. Loving all the discussions on this thread. At least it wakes me up. TBH in r/japanlife there’s been people talking about the low salaries as well but there’s always a line to smooth it over talking about the low cost of living here and safety. But I think eventually you need to weigh your own pros and cons – the significantly lower wage may not be able to make up for the slightly lower cost of living, and safety is also a bit overrated here compared to other safe countries like in Europe or Singapore.

17. The multiple subcontractor structure(多重下請け構造) is often seen as a problem among the Japanese, but what is the situation in other countries?

18. I’ve been offered some Tokyo jobs during the last few years. Even during covid they’re still so stingy with the salary. Their offer was 40% below my current salary. While cost-of-living is lower there, it’s still not a great salary for a software developer.

    I don’t know if it’s a lack of funding, the weak yen, or what’s up, but even the international companies, even startups all have this problem. The only ones without this problem are the international giants like Microsoft, Indeed, Amazon, etc.

19. If Japanese devleopers would speak english and discover remote work, It’s all over for Japan. I knew some people working at a big corporation on an app. I’ve never seen such a totale shit show and waste of money.

20. Do Japanese salaries compete well in any field that’s considered well paying by international standards?

    This doesn’t seem like an IT only phenomenon. Japanese Finance, Law, Consulting etc. all generally pay less than their international counterparts.

21. Japan’s tech salaries are a joke.

22. There is a huge demand for IT professionals  in Japan, but lower pay makes the sector less attractive to midcareer job hoppers.

23. IT is a catch-all term for a wide range of activities, including in-house IT support, software engineering, web development, data science, strategy, consulting, and business research.

    Check out for more info :- https://www.thinkartha.com/

    The term “digital transformation” refers to the digitisation of goods and services, and it typically entails enormous systems for banks, large systems for large enterprises, large systems for government online tax portals, and a lot of labour to automate processes and activities. The size, scope, and effect of the clients account for the large budgets.