How to work in Japan. How to work in Nulab.

Angela here! I’m working in HR in Nulab as HR in Japan.
From now on, I would like to introduce more about Nulab’s culture by using English.

If you don’t live in Japan, you might think that in Japan people are working too hard.
I know about KAROSHI, ZANGYO, and so on... but these words are known all over the world.
As such,, some people have a bad image about working in Japan.

But, Nulab has many members, and many are not speakers of Japanese. And also we have branches in New York, Singapore, and Amsterdam.

Today, I want to introduce the HOW TO WORK IN NULAB and welfare systems.

Nulab's Company Features

• There are many senior members, more than junior members.
• HQ office has many parents.

And...

• Nulab doesn't like a strong management style.

We considered with Nulabers (what we call our employees), and made our employee welfare system step by step.

I listed Nulab HR and welfare system elements that we have made.
From this list, I would like you to try to imagine our working style!

Main points

• Flextime system
• No relocation
• No "de facto working overtime system"
• Child care holiday
• Paid holiday
• No pyramid heirarchy
• Conference support
• Language study support
• Book support
• Breakfast support (every Monday)
• Digital gadget support
• General Meeting

Flextime system

Nulab has flextime system with core working time from 11 am to 3 pm. Nulabers in Fukuoka normally come to office around 9 am ~ 10 am. But in Tokyo, we usually have a commuter rush in the mornings, so they come around 10 am ~ 11 am. This way, we can avoid the crowded trains.

You want to avoid a crowded train, are not you?

No relocation

Our teams are not grouped by location, and this allows us to avoid employee relocation. Of course, sometimes we have a position that we must hire for specific location. But it is rare for our company to order relocation of an employee to another branch. Conversely, there are some members move to another office for a personal reasons. Nulab allows that, if you consult with the company first.

No "de facto working overtime system"

”De facto working overtime system” is a fairly normal thing to have in Japan. It means that even as a salaried employee, your wage is calculated on the basis that you will perform overtime every month, 30 hours for example. You are expected to work that much overtime and are not compensated for it.

This system leads to chronic overtime work by employees, so we don’t have it.

By the way, our employees’ average overtime is only 5~10 hours per month.

Child care holiday

We give an additional paid holiday once a month(from a half year before childbirth to when the child becomes 3 years old) for parents of small children. Currently, there are over 15 nulabers using this system. It also seems that most people use it every month.

Paid holiday

Do you know about Japanese law for paid holidays?

Annual paid holidays will expire after 2 years if not used.

Nulab has many foreigners and hire people in mid-career, so we think they want to go back to their home country a minimum once once a year.

Therefore, Nulab made unique paid holiday system.

No pyramid style position

Nulab doesn’t have positions like “manager” or “director”. There are product managers, but it is more like a role. Nulab is growing, and we are trying out this system now!

Conference support

Nulab supports some of the cost for joining a tech conference. The maximum amount of money supported at one time is 10,000 yen. HR staff (that’s me!) can use this system for HR studying community.

Nulab’s CEO, Masa, loves tech communities in Japan. He thinks it’s important for a tech company to participate.

Language study support

Our company often uses English in collaboration tools, Backlog, Cacoo and Typetalk. So we have to study English. And some foreign nulabers in Japan want to study Japanese. Nulab supports the studying fee (maximum 20,000 yen per month.)

Book support

We have a “@buy book bot” in our chat tool, Typetalk. We post to that bot with Amazon books URL, easily asking to buy it. In this way, we can get a book once a month.

Breakfast support (every Monday)

On Monday, do you feel depressed going to work? On Monday, Nulab Back Office Team prepare breakfast for nulabers, making Mondays more fun. But remember, “first come, first served.”

Digital gadget support

Once a year, the company will pay 30% of the purchase cost of gadgets such as PCs and smartphones that employees like.

General Meeting

This is not really a welfare system, but I would like to introduce it to you all. We have many branches all over the world. Once a year, all nulabers gather in our Fukuoka HQ office! For one week, we have meetings, workshops, dinner, parties... and much more! It's such a NUice and fun time for us!

Please check this blog, too!

So how about it? Are you interested in Nulab?

Please check our company’s English blog too!

Thank you for reading.

See you next time!