- An employee shared contrasting leave approval styles of Indian and Japanese managers on Reddit
- The Japanese manager responded politely and empathetically, wishing safe travel to the employee
- The Indian manager’s reply was curt and transactional, emphasizing availability during leave
An employee's viral Reddit post highlighted a stark contrast in managerial styles when requesting leave from an Indian and a Japanese boss. Both managers approved the leave, but their responses differed significantly in tone. The employee, who needed urgent personal leave to travel home, had both managers as supervisors and emailed them both.
The Japanese manager's reply was polite and empathetic: "Good day!!Well noted. Please be careful on your way home.Thank you." The Indian manager's reply was curt and transactional: "Approved. Please be online on Teams and mail."
The employee expressed disappointment with the Indian manager's response, feeling it made the leave approval seem like a "personal favour" rather than an earned entitlement, despite having several casual leaves remaining.
"I had to go back to my hometown for some urgent work, and I currently have atleast 7 CLs left.I have 2 reporting Managers. One is a Japanese person and the other is an Indian. Although both of them approved my leave but they have such contrasting behaviors. The Indian is acting as if he's doing me a personal favour by approving my leave," the user wrote on Reddit.
See the post here:
Difference between a Japanese Manager and an Indian Manager
byu/itidao inIndianWorkplace
The post sparked a lively discussion, with many sharing their own experiences of cross-cultural work dynamics. Several users chimed in, relating similar stories and highlighting differences in management styles, particularly between Indian and Japanese or Western clients. Some disagreed with the comparison and remarked that managers in other Asian countries are also equally toxic.
One user wrote, "Europeans have the best work culture and for them work life balance is important than any other thing. I have seen them going on vacations for 20-25 days. I am working with them for almost 2 years now and they are pretty much chill about everything and are very helpful and supportive. Can't even imagine this in India."
Another commented, "I think Japan, China, Philippines are pretty much toxic in work culture." A third said, "My perception is that Japanese managers quickly adapt to the working culture of other countries, whereas Indian managers often bring their toxic working culture with them and live it out in other countries as well."
A fourth added, "Isn't Japan already known for their extremely bad work culture, the place literally has a word for death by overwork, 'Karoshi'."
