Japan: update of the ‘worst companies’ list

The highly anticipated ‘Worst Company Award’ 2014 is going to be attributed this summer in Tokyo. Don’t be mistaken by the frivolity of the name: this list of nominees is one of the darkest sides of Japanese management. This black list has become famous, so much so that “black Kigyo” has entered people’s everyday language, especially young jobseekers.
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A list closely monitored by young graduates. Excessively long working hours with over 140 unpaid extra hours in a month, sexual harassment, low wages, no parental leave, hostility towards unions or even discrimination against agency workers: the list of criteria to determine the worst companies in Japan shows that employee exploitation has never been so topical. Aware of this growing problem, journalists, activists and college professors created, in 2012, an association to award the “Annual...

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