So she works as a SWE for a semi ブラック企業 and they recently implemented a new rule that when teleworking, they have to have sporadic meetings and need to have the camera on. If someone walks by and they see it, they’ll get mad and possibly discipline her. She only gets 1 day of telework a week and now she wants to build a 360 degree partition around our desks which are next to each other..
Is this ridiculous? Or am I just not understanding japanese “work culture“
21 comments
Nothing to do with Japanese work culture. Crappy company is crappy.
Just adjust the desks so her back is facing the wall, I’ve done it before because my son would try getting into the frame all the time
Many companies will have some rule about keeping work confidential, especially during telework. How strictly that’s enforced heavily depends on the place, but it’s not so outlandish in itself.
If you’ve ever seen people working in cafes or other public spaces with tinted screen protectors, it’s for the same reason.
Can she set up her camera settings so there’s a background added automatically? I usually set up my desk to be in front of either a wall or somewhere I know my wife won’t pass so I don’t bother, but lots of people I work with use background filters all the time, even if they’re joining a Teams meeting from the office.
Is the company paying for it?
Realistically though, it sounds like you need a bigger place.
what’s wrong with AI background
Time to buy shower curtains!
Just turn the desk around so that the camera is facing the wall.
IKEA has cheap partitions – I work from home and separated my bedroom to have more like a cubicle space.
MIght suck but how about hanging a towel or blanket behind her? Dunno where u you put your Desks but facing it to a wall or moving it to a corner where Op doesn’t get in the camera angle.
If space is the issue and money isn’t, green screen panel that you set up behind her desk area before her TW days. Take a photo from her web camera, set zoom to green screen mode and then set that photo as her background.
> SWE
and
> sporadic meetings
…are two things that really, really don’t go well together. Sounds like *shachō* has no concept of the need for deep, uninterrupted concentration.
I’d be using American flags as a backdrop. Stars and Stripes all the way.
There’s no real need to have the camera on, for 90% of meetings. I mean she’s not diagnosing skin cancer or something. My company (US HQ’d) is completely flexible as we’ve realized it can be tiring for people to be on camera for too long every day.
I’d setup her own private office with printer, camera and all other equipment for when she needs to concentrate without anyone around regardless of the company’s rules, and, oh yeah, she can use it for video conferencing too.
Far from a ridiculous request, employees have a duty of confidentiality.
If telework means an employee can no longer fulfill that duty, they can either work from the office or take measures to protect the company’s assets when they work from home.
Well, when we were in the office our family wasn’t just walking around our desks were they? A company still needs to keep casual conversations private and if protecting trade secrets is a concern they need to stress the importance of a private space for you within your home way before this.
Friend’s husband WFH for a traditional bank, and he gets in trouble if the sounds of his children (2 and 7) in another room are picked up on the mic during calls. It’s awful and stressful for the whole family, especially my friend who is the one tasked with keeping the kids quiet.
Move the workspace into a corner and have the camera face the wall. I too, live in a small place, and my laptop lacks the power to AI background, so I have the wall behind me as I sit in the kotatsu half naked.
It is absolutely ridiculous.
You can buy some ceiling mounted curtain tracks and then she can just pull the curtain around here for meetings and stow it away outside of meetings.
No, it’s perfectly reasonable. That being said they’re not forcing her to put a partition anywhere they’re telling her for work meetings she needs to be somewhere where other people won’t disturb the meeting.
Good luck my man. One of the many reasons why I will never work for a Japanese company In Japan. I would get fired for saying “fuck that” on the first day most likely 🤣