Karoshi: Overworked Hybrid Engineer Dies

TOKYO — A Japanese labor bureau has ruled that one of Toyota's top car engineers died from working too many hours, the latest in a string of such findings in a nation where extraordinarily long hours for some employees has long been the norm.

The man who died was aged 45 and had been under severe pressure as the lead engineer in developing a hybrid version of Toyota's blockbuster Camry line, said Mikio Mizuno, the lawyer representing his wife. The man's identity is being withheld at the request of his family, who continue to live in Toyota City where the company is based.

In the two months up to his death, the man averaged more than 80 hours of overtime per month, according to Mizuno.

He regularly worked nights and weekends, was frequently sent abroad and was grappling with shipping a model for the pivotal North American International Auto Show in Detroit when he died of ischemic heart disease in January 2006. The man's daughter found his body at their home the day before he was to leave for the United States.

The ruling was handed down June 30 and will allow his family to collect benefits from his work insurance, Mizuno said.

An officer at the Aichi Labor Bureau on Wednesday confirmed the ruling, but declined to comment on the record.

In a statement, Toyota Motor Corp. offered its condolences and said it would work to improve monitoring of the health of its workers.

There is an effort in Japan to cut down on deaths from overwork, known as "karoshi." Such deaths have steadily increased since the Health Ministry first recognized the phenomenon in 1987.

Last year, a court in central Japan ordered the government to pay compensation to Hiroko Uchino, the wife of a Toyota employee who collapsed at work and died at age 30 in 2002. She took the case to court after her application to the local labor bureau for compensation was rejected.

Comments

[cjmartinez]

Yeah but when will the Camry be available?

[pmag88]

The Camry Hybrid has been on the market and selling well for a few years now. Check out reviews on epinions.com

Perhaps he was working on a plug in version.

[sparkey]

I'd be looking at an oil company hit. After all, the longer it takes for a hybrid to come out, the higher the gas prices can go.

[Enid]

When your hungry need drink or compassion.
Due you really need a investment banker?

I would feel safer with a field laborer, thank you.

[levibatgirl]

It says Comments 10 and yet none are showing.

Is the mod squad asleep at the wheel?

[levibatgirl]

The ultimate sacrifice. Giving your life for your corporate masters.

How patriotic!

: P

[airduds]

"In the two months up to his death, the man averaged more than 80 hours of overtime per month, according to Mizuno."

The normal work week in Japan is 40 hours so that means he averaged 60 hours per week for two months.

I'm 49 and for approximately two months each year I work 72 - 75 hours per week. My normal work week is 50 hours. I've been doing this exercise for almost 30 years now.

[KillTheMessenger]

And when you die they won't even make a story out of you.

[WIpatriot]

Shame, eh?

[levibatgirl]

How patriotic of you!

: P

[RaraAvis17]

it all depends on how stressful your job is.

[geobushono]

stop whining-this ain't Japan....they lost

[FeloniouslyAnnoying]

you must really hate your family

[iambusto]

People dont realise how many hours some people work to make a great living. then they expect the same level of salary at their 40 hour/week job.

I know this is huffpo and we are all supposed to hate investment bankers. but here is a trivia question. be honest in answering.

1) What do you think the average qualification of a fresh grad who enters into investment banking at a bulge bracket wall street firm?

2) How many hours a week does an investment banker works say first 5 years of his career before he burns out and moves to a different department/area?

3) How many vacation days does an average invst. banker takes first 2 years of the job?

I know we all love to bash them (and for good reason most of the time). Answer these 3 questions, and compare that to say the answers to what that would be for a software developer/marketing executive etc and you might get an answer to the ridiculous salary the investment banker draws.

i will return back to the post if there are 1-2 answers to give the answer to the 3 questions.

i know this might sound off topict, just wanted to voice my opinion that when people rant on salary discrepancy they dont look at whole picture. what kind of education/degree it takes for a specific job compared to other, what kind of hours they work, what kind of life they lead.

[KillTheMessenger]

And why would you want to be an investment banker, to begin with? There are easier ways to earn more money than the average banker. Of course, it is not so easy to earn nearly as much as the above average one. But that is true for almost any profession.

[iambusto]

people do what they do for various reasons. someone who has 5 years experience in investment banking in a major wall street firm is a highly marketable guy.
anyways thats beside the point. the answer for the questions would be (approx).

1) MBA from a top 15 school (in most cases, sure there are exceptions)

2) 80 to 100 hours a week

3) 0 to 5. i heard 0 for a lot of first year job.

Now if some software developer or say a school teacher complains about their salary compared to what an invest. banker makes, first gotta ask, do they have that kinda smarts. do they work those kinda hours, and do they deny themselves to that extent.

not to mention certain fields inherently pay higher than others. ask anyone in medical field (doctors, anasthesiologist, surgeons, pilots etc).

so before someone complains about how less they are making compared to others, look at whole picture.

and oh if you took History/Geography/Political Science/Liberal arts as your major in grad school, dont even bother to complain please.

[rini]

I still think that if someone works for forty hours a week, they deserve to earn a living wage.....

period.

[Cathexis]

Sadly, you don't have to have a "great job" in order to be criminally overworked. I did a 9-month stretch back in the late 80s where I averaged 70 hours a week, spiking in the upper 90s on some weeks.

For a salary.

For the longest time, I bought into that ... if I just applied myself NOW, I'd reap rewards later on, down the road. All I had to do was bring THIS big project in!

But, as my now-ex wife told me, "There's always another project."

I'm remarried now and I'll never again make the mistake of subjecting me or my family to such costs. Corporations are, in effect, subsidizing their costs by leaning on us with chronic overtime. I'm not going to expend MY personal life to prop up some Corporation -- at least, never again!

[Blurp]

Dying for your corporation. "Most Honorable" death for 21st Century.

[EinChicago]

This cannot be... according to the gospel of the Huff Po, Toyota is the promised land, delivery of saintly Pious cars and the most super duper wonderful company in teh world.

[gabriel38g]

Good question. The car may be environmentally friendly, but the company isn't necessarily worker-friendly. So which car do you buy? the one that treats the employees well, or the one that treats the environment well?

[WIpatriot]

E eats another bowl of corn flakes that somebody pissed in.

[EinChicago]

Irony: Mr. Chicken Little himself accuses anyone else of pessimism. Hilarious. I love it. Tell me WIPatriot, will we see pestilence, famine, death, or war today? I forget which horseman of the apocalypse you're scheduled to whine about today?

[KillTheMessenger]

He died for a Camry hybrid? What a waste. The death, the Camry and the whole story.