Canon Employees Are Forbidden to Sit Down, Walk at Normal Pace

You might think your job sucks, but at least your boss wasn't insane enough to remove all the chairs and install security so an alarm goes off if you don't walk fast enough.

The president of Canon Electronics, Hisashi Sakamaki, is also the author of a book proposing some of the same measures he takes with his own company. His theory is that forcing employees to stand not only saves money but increases productivity and enhances employee relationships.

In the hallway, if an employee walks slower than 5 meters every 3.6 seconds, an alarm and flashing lights are set off, reminding the poor startled worker that he's an inefficient waste of air. Even better (or worse), there's a sign on the floor in said hallways that reads, "Let's rush: If we don't, the company and world will perish." The big boss, as a reward for thinking up all this stuff, gets to lounge in a nice, relaxing chair.

http://gizmodo.com/5273192/canon-employees-are-forbidden-to-sit-down-walk-at-normal-pace

Yeeesh!

you're not exactly free to leave.

This bad ecconomy, with lots and lots jof potential employees panting for a job- any job? Employers like this one love it. They can- and, as we see all too well in this OP, do- treat their employees like progressively smellier and smellier shit as the bad economy continues.

They do this because they can, and they know it. My own employer, the USPS, has had us doing more and more work with fewer and fewer people even though the mail volume is and has been steadily decreasing. I'm only fortunate that I can make statements like that, that I can point fingers and name names, without fear of reprisal, being a member of a strong union and all.

Most workers today don't even have that, and have to step around the name of their employer as if they were on eggshells- which is, in itself, an indication of a major attitude problem among employers in general.

technically the child workers toiling in the factories, mills and textiles (and not to mention sharecroppers) of a century ago were 'free to seek other employment' whenever they wanted, but if the family was dirt poor and there were no other opportunities you had no other choice...

Wage Slavery.

-Hoot

No fuckhead CEO the world will not perish, however, you, you little motherfucker will. Now go pull out your samaurai sword and perform seppeku.

Let's never forget to be thankful for our RIGHT to be enslaved to some corporation for the majority of our waking lives. Let's never forget that WORK (pbuh) is the backbone of Real American society. Welfare is bad!!! Refusing to work is evil!!! Freedom is forbidden!!!

Whoops... umm... I mean, freedom is the ability to get a "good job" (like this one) and "provide for your family."

Hahaha, damn am I ever glad I haven't had a job in ten years.

So what? I stand all day at my job, so do a lot of people.

the "you walk too slow alarm" is much but, if this is in Japan, the Japanese take a rather different view towards their jobs than most Americans and Western Europeans.

According to the book mentioned in the article, "A company will do well if you get rid of the chairs and computers." Consider how often one can read posts here such as "Can you give us cube rats more info?"

One might get the idea that some workers are not working as busily as they could be due to the distractions of the internet and posting thereon.

When the employer hires a worker for eight hours, is eight hours of work too much to expect?

that suggests that breaks and other exercises will make for a more efficient workplace. Yes an employer is hiring someone to work 8 hours. However, I think the stress from being under those conditions would be high and counterproductive.
I am not advocating rampant timeouts. I just believe that there is a happy medium.

...from 1400 to 1500. The workers take a nap, wake refreshed and gladly stay an extra hour. We, on the other hand, force workers to be productive at all hours which compromises safety and causes all manner of poor decisions. I am also an advocate of exercise periods (not rushing to the gym, changing, doing five minutes of PT, showering, changing and rushing back to work in the alloted 60 minutes of lunchtime).

Time to do things differently.

Or kids
or dogs
or cooking or cars.

"excellent customer service today"

When I was a hostess for Corporate Pizza Kitchen we couldnt even sit down when the place was dead and we were wiping down menus The bussers couldnt sit whilst rolling silver ware.The Waiters werent allowed to sit either and we all worked six hour shifts running around like headless chickens for six hours. Not nearly as intense but it reminded me of that. I now work at a restaurant that is not corporate and anal about sitting down.

The human body cannot handle it.

But hey, who cares? Who cares about employers swallowing Ibuprofen all day long? I worked for Macy's NYC and we were not allowed to sit - every single person was on pain killers and swallowed hands full every 4 hours.

People in some countries sit in a squatting position with knees bent and butt in the air - I would have trouble doing that but it is natural there.

Oh come ON.

Which, from a corporate perspective, may be an additional advantage of this policy. It weeds out "unfit" employees who drive up insurance costs.

The human body, though, evolved to be a standing and walking machine. A young, fit, healthy person with plenty of exercise can stand all day long without ill effects. In many parts of the world, people still do.

then we can talk again.

I own a single thing that carries the Canon brand. And now I am even less likely to acquire something carrying that brand.

It is obvious these fockers don't think much of disabled or older workers in particular - and workers in general. I will not support them.

Join me in that effort?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5750106&mesg_id=5750106

The author of the article, Danny Choo, lists himself as Danny Choo in Tokyo, so I guess it’s in Japan, possibly Tokyo

http://www.dannychoo.com/detail/mac/eng/image/19639/Canon+Electronics.html

I'm fortunate enough to have a job now in a nice airconditioned office where I'm free to sit or stand or go to the ladies room or work slower or work faster as I so choose. I get paid by the year to get my job done.(well I get paid every 2 weekd but you know what I mean) If I dilly dally around and it takes me 60 hrs to get it done then it's my 60 hrs.

I am over 50 - I have had this job for 3 years. Before that all my jobs were physical not mental. I can honestly say, now that I work behind a desk, I welcome every opportunity I can find to get up and be on my feet. Sitting all day IS NOT good for the body. (edit to add - unless one has injury or illness)

vascular issues it can cause blood clots and death (aneurysms). When I work I sit cross legged or with my legs elevated to avoid this, as per my doctors instructions. One surgery is enough, thank you!

The risk is not moving. I have a job that is almost always standing. I can sit, when I choose. Other places would not allow sitting, including my sociopathic grandfather. To stand and move has kept me limber and tone. Most jobs now though, are repetitive in the extreme. That, should change. Ergonomics, is the last consideration to sociopaths{corporate bosses}. Indeed, they bristle at the insinuation that they would be in any way responsible, or should remedy any ergonomic aspect of their human directing. At least Henry Ford thought those that did his bidding should earn more than all the others. By a bunch. Now, they tell you that you are lucky to be ruined by their directing. You could be a parasite slacker{unemployed}.

I worked retail about ten years ago. Behind a counter in a dept. store. No stools, no where to sit even when there were no customers. Only time to sit was on breaks.

In classy jewelry stores (NOT the sorry excuse for a jewelry dept. I worked in) the customer and the salesperson can BOTH sit down on stools across the display case, and talk.

Now, I couldn't do it. I get swollen ankles every day. I have had high blood pressure for twenty years and take three different medications every day for it.

Sometimes if I am walking around in a large store, my legs will turn bright red. That means that I need to get off my feet, immediately.

Now I have a plantar neuroma in both feet, and they are numb most of the time from the bottom of my toes through the middle of my foot.

(Monday is my last day, but that is another story)

Most Japanese I know would laugh in this guy's face. It's not just the standing or minimum hallway speed (although given how frustrated I get when stuck behind a couple of slow-walkers, part of me actually likes that idea.) but the regimentation; the dehumanizing effect these excuses for management have.

I once worked at a car dealer where the service manager would have us stand at attention while our work areas were inspected for cleanliness. If you passed inspection, you were handed your paycheck and dismissed for the weekend. That service manager did not last very long.

eliminating bathrooms and simply giving them a bottle to piss in? (deducted from their paycheck of course)... Even better, they can eliminate lunch hour and water fountains so employees don't need to use the bathroom that often...

Maybe Canon could require employees to live on-site since their lives belong to the corporation...Better yet, Canon can just add their factory to a wing of a max-security prison...They can then do all the things I suggested, and pay the prisoners much less....

Five meters every three point six seconds is five kilometers per hour or three point one one miles per hour, a fairly brisk pace but not excessive, I'm nearly sixty and can do that easily.

And, as I posted on the other thread about this, there are a great many jobs where sitting during the workday simply is not possible due to the nature of the work. My own experience is in construction mostly and there are no construction labor type jobs it is possible to do while seated. Indeed, just having a clear, level and unobstructed floor to walk on is often unusual in construction work, you are constantly stepping over and around debris and materiel laying around in a haphazard fashion.

It's no worse than walking in Manhattan... if you're not doing a 9-minute mile in some parts of town, you get mowed down.

And if Don Rumsfeld can not sit down for a full day, I'm sure these Canon employees can manage. :hide:

Look at it this way... with less sitting and more brisk walking, they're probably in reasonably good health. My old job, I was stuck way in the back, and had to walk about 50 yards to everything... copier, fax, restroom, meetings, lunchroom, exit, etc. After I left for more of a "home office" environment, I put on weight that I'm still carrying.

Now, those 1965 Beach Boys uniforms are another matter entirely...

Require them to drink 2 Red Bulls in the morning and at lunch. Then at the end of the shift give them a time release sedative so they'll rest and build up energy to burn after their morning Red Bulls.

It's too bad the workers can't be kept "in house" after the shift so their sleep and energy consumption could be properly monitored to maximize production. Maybe that'll come in time as we learn to become more efficient.