Head of Japan's largest ad agency resigns over 'death by overwork'

The president of Dentsu Inc , Japan's largest advertising agency, will step down over the "death by overwork" of a young employee, a suicide which has prompted official probes and fresh hand-wringing over Japan's overtime culture.

Matsuri Takahashi, a promising graduate of Japan's top university, leapt to her death in December 2015, leaving behind a trail of grievances over relentless days. She clocked 105 hours of overtime in October 2015, before becoming depressed.

Her death, deemed by the government to be "karoshi" or death by overwork, has prompted raids on Dentsu offices, but has also been followed by Japan's first white paper on the issue.

That study found that in a country that imposes few limits on employers regarding overtime hours and pay, more than a fifth of companies had staff that worked more than 80 hours of overtime in a month - the government threshold.

"It is extremely regrettable that we could not prevent overwork by a new recruit," Dentsu President Tadashi Ishii told a news conference. Full story...

Related posts:

1. Filipino trainee’s death in Japan ruled from overwork, a first since 2011...
2. Suicide of young Dentsu employee recognized as due to...
3. 600,000 Chinese die from overworking each year...
4. How Swedish literature reflects the benefits of a shorter working day...
5. Japan tells its workers to take more vacation...
6. Why won't Japanese workers go on vacation?
7. Karoshi, or how the Japanese work themselves to death...
8. Karoshi or overwork, Japan's silent killer...