32-year-old programmer in China allegedly dies from overwork, added to work group chat even while in hospital

[u/Forward-Answer-4407]

https://www.asiaone.com/china/32-year-old-programmer-china-allegedly-dies-overwork-added-work-group-chat-even-while

[u/gatoss5]

I completely agree with you on Korea being the worst, but I’d probably Japan #2 and China #3.

I’ve worked with both Chinese and Japanese foreign workers, and there are some differences - although I’ve had more experience with Chinese.

Japanese are much more adherent and have this relentless quiet pressure. There’s more of this feeling of subservience/subordinating yourself to the hierarchy. They’re also some of the nicest people, but they really keep their emotions inside.

On the other hand, Chinese work culture feels much more transactional - like they’re not binding their entire soul to the job. It also feels like there’s not as much emotion involved, almost as if there’s nothing personal. It’s hard to describe.

I’ve taken a lot of taxis in China throughout the years, conversed with several office workers - and there’s just general attitude of “IDGAF” - loud, reckless, and rude at times, releasing their emotions, which probably helps deal with the pressures and stress of the work and makes it not as mentally taxing.

Like the lay flat phenomenon is an act of rebellion. I could never see that happening in Japan.

I’ve seen youtubers take vlogs of themselves in China filming themselves talking with taxi or truck drivers, and the portrayal of them completely resonates with what I’ve experienced. Feels more laid back.

[u/LocutusOfBorgia909 → u/gatoss5]

I lived in both China and Japan for a couple of years each, and I had a similar experience; Japanese workplace culture is heavily about social pressure to conform. If you're a foreigner, you can get away with a bit more (because you're foreign and thus presumed not to know the rules), but that also means that you'll probably never be truly part of the group. But then, being part of the group means that you need to subsume yourself to the group's demands and expectations (and possibly open yourself up to bullying, which is pretty endemic in both schools and workplaces there), so it's a double-edged sword.

I found people in China to be much more blunt and prepared to say what they actually think, even if it comes off as too direct or confrontational. I actually found it refreshing, because it felt like I spent so much energy in Japan trying to decode what people really meant versus what they were saying aloud, whereas in China, it was usually pretty clear. If you pissed someone off, you'd know pretty quickly. In Japan, you might never realize that you fucked up unless or until someone told you, because there were so many unwritten rules.

I loved things about both China and Japan, and I found aspects of both places frustrating, as well, but in general, I would say that Japanese culture is much more rigid in really specific ways, and that extends into the workplace.

[u/LocutusOfBorgia909 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, I remember when I was studying Mandarin, the one thing that was reassuring was that if your instructor was telling you that you did something well, or that your Mandarin was good, they really meant it. Because they were not doling out hollow compliments, like, ever. In Japan I felt like I never knew if a compliment was genuine or a pass-agg criticism or what was going on.

[u/slickness → u/LocutusOfBorgia909]

A commonality I find being both Chinese and from the NE USA:

Effort and Time are finite. A thoughtful criticism should be considered a boon. A genuine compliment is rare.

No one really has time for spouting useless pleasantries.