Can you get a Software Engineering job in Japan with just 40 hours/week?

16 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

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   **Can you get a Software Engineering job in Japan with just 40 hours/week?**

   I’ve always wanted to move to Japan, but I really feel like all the expected overtime is a complete dealbreaker to me. I work 40 hours a week as is, and I feel like I just barely have the ability to do 40 hours a week as is. Would it be possible to find a 40 hour/week job in software development in Tokyo or is that really rare? I’d love to move to Japan, but not to just work all the time. I want to move there to enjoy Japan. Working is just something I need to do to be able to get by.

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3. Have you looked at foreign companies/progressive Japanese companies?

   Japandev has plenty of ads and some even mention “overtime discouraged”. I don’t know how genuine that is but yea.

   Either way don’t expect to completely escape the Japanese work culture when in Japan. That’s probably everyone’s dream.

4. I had one, at a large foreign owned company. There was paid overtime for some, but other departments enforced zero and you would need to reduce any accrued overtime by taking time off towards the end of the month. Of course some people cheated the system and did unpaid extra work.. who knows why!

5. As mentioned by another user, you can do a quick Google search and there SE jobs that are open for foreign applicants. The example given, japandev is a good job portal which primarily focuses on people trying to find a job here. The job posts also indicate if they can sponsor visas / accept applicants outside Japan. If you are very strict in 40hrs a week, then you must focus on companies that already has a multinational environment to have a chance on that 40 working hours.

6. > all the expected overtime is a complete dealbreaker to me

   This is an old stereotype, and times are changing.

   Average working hours in Japan are lower than in America these days.

   There are still companies with high overtime, but these are called “black companies” and have bad reputations.

   Any of the multinational type of company hiring non-Japanese-speaking foreigners isn’t going to be like that.

   > I’d love to move to Japan, but not to just work all the time.

   You need to work wherever you live.

   Do you also realize salaries are lower in Japan?
   What career path are you looking at building by this move?
   Do you have some sort of goal in mind?

7. There are plenty developer jobs that don’t expect you to work more than 40 hours per week. Heck, my current job only requires me to work 37.5 hours per week (7.5 hours work day). And frequent overtime is seen as a failure of planning on your part (or in case you are a junior dev, a failure of your manager).

   However, if you mean you will not work any overtime ever then I afraid this is the wrong mindset. I have worked at some big techs that are famous for their work-life balance, but their roles are also discretionary. Sometimes shit happens and we are expected to do everything necessary to fix the problem, within reason. Think about it, if your service is experiencing an issue, millions of users are impacted, and millions dollar of revenue are on the line then “sorry my day is over, I’ll look into this tomorrow” is almost certainly not an acceptable answer.

8. Maybe it’s a misconception due to how contracts are worded, but the assumed overtime included in salary isn’t mandatory work hours. They include x-number of overtime hours and pre-pay them. If you go beyond that, they pay additional overtime, but working under doesn’t reduce your take home pay.

   I work for a Japanese company that spins up AI tech and I typically put in an extra 2-6 hours a week, but I’m not obligated to work anything over 40 hours a week. It really just depends on the company culture.

   I also think you should really consider why you feel you can barely work 40 hours a week. Is it the language, framework, or tooling you use that makes you not enjoy programming or are you simply not enjoying programming as a whole? Moving to Japan to do something you loathe will only make you resent the move more. Really consider that before trying to move.

9. I’m actually working only 30 hours a week, at a small western-style company in a software engineering role. I requested a four-day week (just on the off chance) and got it. Always worth an ask!

   I’ve heard that EY in principle allow four-day work, so it may not necessarily be out of the question even at large, old-fashioned companies.

10. Worked for a western company in Japan, in IT, and one thing I noticed is due to the amount of holidays there are more code freeze/no change windows versus the west as well. I worked in management, but the amount of actual work is less in Japan, but there is more admin work such as logging hours even as salary.

11. I got a DevOps job in Tokyo and I’m contracted for 37.5 hours. Yes it’s possible.

12. I’m in the exact same boat OP, as someone working in game dev it’s especially daunting compared to a fantastic work life balance we get here in the EU. I love Japan but I don’t think it makes alot of sense to move there and lose it.

13. It’s certainly possible to get a job that only requires 40 hours/wk. My Japanese company requires less than that for full time employees.

14. One way to be more in control of your work is to be a contractor instead. By definition, contractors decide their own work schedule and time. I’m a sole proprietor now, contracting 40 hours a week helping a U.S. client remotely. If you really worry about Japanese work culture, you can possibly go down this route.

15. If you take the freelance path and establish yourself, sure you can. Best setup a more secure residency status beforehand, since most development projects run fun about 6 months if I’m not mistake. Engineers feel free to correct me

16. I may not be OP, but as someone who is starting their Dev journey in the US, an avid upskiller and someone hoping to immigrate 5 years in (have ample experience, take 3 years of studying Japanese language etc before moving.)

    I am very greatful for all of the responses here and am feeling that I am making the right decision!

    Thank you all for you input even though I’m just an observer and not OP! (And thank you OP for asking the question)