In Japan, firms pay senior staff to sit idle by the window as Western bosses chase AI-driven productivity to retain jobs.

While corporations in the United States and Europe push for a return to the office and demand ever-greater efficiency, Japan is discreetly compensating thousands of its older employees simply to come in, sit at their desks, and accomplish very little.

This group is known as the “madogiwazoku”—older, underperforming, or surplus staff who are given seats by the window with minimal actual duties.

These “window-seat workers” are predominantly Generation X and Baby Boomer men in their late fifties and sixties, originally hired under the pledge of lifetime employment and a pay scale based on seniority.

Rather than managing teams or securing business, their days are filled with sporadically answering emails, moving a few papers around, and organizing files. They retain comfortable salaries but are deliberately kept away from any meaningful responsibility.

Although not a new practice, it is gaining attention online. As Western chief executives intensify their focus on productivity, office attendance mandates, and workforce reductions, a growing number of younger individuals are viewing Japan as a serene counterpoint—a place to experience a slower, more deliberate lifestyle starkly different from the relentless corporate hustle.

Moved instead of sacked: Japan’s seniors are still clocking in long after retirement

“While Trump says, ‘You’re fired,’ in Japan we don’t say ‘You’re fired,'” a 74-year-old Japanese influencer explained on TikTok. “If someone is not doing a good job, we put him near the window, let them do paperwork. Those people we call madogiwazoku.”

He points out a crucial difference: these employees are not typically disruptors. They are often loyal, non-confrontational workers whose skills have been rendered less relevant by new technology or shifting corporate strategy. Instead of termination, they are quietly sidelined.

“They’re not aggressive people so we just let them work, and they don’t complain and they’re happy with it and they work for the company for a long time.”

Shielding older employees from layoffs—even as their roles diminish—has had a tangible impact on Japan’s workforce composition. The nation now boasts one of the highest senior employment rates in the developed world. In 2022, over a quarter of people aged 65 and older were still working, compared to under 20% in the U.S. and just about 10% in the U.K.

Surveys indicate approximately 80% of Japanese workers wish to continue working past retirement age, with around 70% preferring to remain with their current company instead of seeking a new start.

To facilitate this, the government enacted a revised Law Concerning Stabilization of Employment of Older Persons and a series of subsidies encouraging firms to provide job opportunities for workers until age 70. Reports note that some companies are already implementing systems to extend the retirement age, enabling employees to work longer without losing benefits.

Furthermore, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare offers grants to employers that support these measures.

Survey suggests that about half of Japanese companies have an ‘old guy who does nothing’

A limited study offers a glimpse into how common this quiet transfer from essential duties to a window seat has become.

In a survey of 300 workers aged 20 to 39 at major Japanese corporations, the consulting firm Shikigaku discovered that 49.2% reported their employer had an “old guy who doesn’t work.”

When younger employees were asked what these “madogiwazoku” colleagues do all day, the most frequent responses were taking excessive smoking and snack breaks, chatting idly, surfing the web, and even gazing into space.

Even in Japan, where respect for elders is ingrained in social customs, Generation Z and millennial workers are growing frustrated.

Nine out of ten respondents stated that their company’s “old guy who doesn’t work” negatively affects the workplace, citing lowered morale (59.7%), increased workload for others (49%), and higher labor costs (35.3%) as key reasons.

Nevertheless, the custom has a benefit. By retaining older, less adaptable staff instead of dismissing them, companies foster a sense of psychological security, lessen the fear of sudden job loss, and retain decades of institutional knowledge that can be used for mentoring and training.

In a time when jobs are being eliminated in pursuit of AI-driven efficiency, Japan’s “window tribe” may appear unproductive. Yet, it serves as a subtle guarantee to every other employee that a poor business quarter or a lag in skills will not necessarily mean losing one’s livelihood.