A video showcasing a female Sagami Railway conductor highlights concerns over chronic understaffing and excessive overtime, sparking heated comments online.
1@Old Man Friends Club ★ Security Guard [lv.9] [Sprout].Nov. 22, 2024 (Fri) 19:20:25.32ID:XkMNu1XX9
A video showcasing the work of Sagami Railway conductors is attracting attention for a reason other than its original intention. The videos are from a YouTube channel that introduces jobs by following working people closely and illustrating their working styles and lifestyles. When a video showed a female Sotetsu conductor at work, the comments section went into a frenzy. Looking at the comments posted, there are a number of accusations that appear to be from insiders, such as “chronically understaffed” and “more than 100 hours of overtime for more than six consecutive months.” It has been pointed out that many railway companies are chronically short-staffed, but what is the actual situation at Sotetsu? I tried to contact them directly but they refused to answer. [Omitted] Among them, the video “Working hard and raising children! A day in the life of a female train conductor on the Sotetsu Line,” released on November 13th, follows a female train conductor on the Sotetsu line for a day. I go to work after dropping my child off at nursery school, start my shift at 9am and finish at 5pm. After that, I go home, which is a completely normal work situation. The conductor introduced in the article says that the job is “flexible (in terms of time)” and that it’s “a workplace that makes it easy to raise children.” However, viewers of this video have raised doubts about the content presented, which they say is a “special day route for people with special circumstances such as caring for the elderly or raising children.” He continued, “This is the only thing I can reveal. “The others are just too bad,” he criticized. The reasons cited for this are “chronic staff shortages, 100 hours of overtime, and the normality of being at the company for three nights and four days,” and “probably the worst working environment of any railway company in Japan.” The extremely detailed explanation of the situation is suspected to have been written by an insider. If these allegations are true, then as a railway company whose sole responsibility is to protect the lives of its passengers, it may be operating in extremely dangerous conditions. ● Sotetsu effectively refuses to answer The editorial department of Business Journal therefore asked Sotetsu’s public relations department whether the working conditions described in these comments were true. “Our company does not make any announcements in response to YouTube comments. If there is a problem, we will investigate it internally and take action.” (Sotetsu Public Relations Department) We asked to at least confirm the facts, such as whether overtime of more than 100 hours is the norm or whether there are a large number of vacancies, but were refused. So we asked employees of a major private railway company in the Kanto region what they thought about the posts about Sotetsu. “An increasing number of private railway operators, even in the Kanto region and surrounding areas, are facing serious labor shortages. Tokyu, Odakyu, Keio, and Tobu have relatively stable finances and are not in a situation where labor shortages are a problem. JR East and Tokyo Metro also seem to attract people because they offer higher salaries than other companies. However, even though Sotetsu’s business situation is not particularly bad, salaries are low, so it is not a company that people in the Kanto region who are looking to work for a railway company actively apply for. I also hear that Keikyu and Sotetsu have a lot of overtime and the work is tough.”
>>1 I think it can’t be helped. They probably don’t have the financial resources to install platform screen doors at all stations and make it a one-man operation. It’s Sotetsu.
Railways seem to be the easiest industry to automate, and even with the current level of technology, it seems like everything except maintenance can be automated.
The 100 hours depends on the content. I would have welcomed a place with a lot of waiting time but with a good pay. I wouldn’t accept a 100 hour job even if I was paid because it was nonstop work.
I’ve heard that Asahi Shimbun owns the land in the Tsukiji area, and that their main source of income is real estate, so they’re no longer a newspaper company but “Asahi Real Estate.” I’ve also heard that Sotetsu is actually “Sagami Jisho,” a large landowner at the west exit of Yokohama Station, and that the railway business is just a bonus.
Sagami Railway has terrible station staff, so give up on the terrible working conditions. If you want a decent working environment, say so when you’re able to work properly.
>>42 There is a driver’s license center in Futamatagawa, so if you are a resident of Kanagawa and have a driver’s license, either one would be fine. The JR Sagami Line is less well known.
How can Odakyu, a major shareholder who is in the same industry and should know what’s going on in the industry, be allowing this situation to continue?
>>47 Isn’t that the Sagami Line that runs from Chigasaki to Hashimoto Station? Isn’t this the Sagami Main Line that runs from Yokohama to Ebina Station?
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