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61-406: Kuroto Nakano is a young salaryman with a very unhappy and stressful life, almost entirely occupied by his job at the company for which he works. One night, after yet another day spent overworking, the moment he opens the door of his home he finds a seemingly young girl with fox ears and a tail cooking dinner for him – her name is Senko, an 800-year-old fox demigod . Senko has been sent to Earth from

122-470: A 2016 study by the McKinsey Global Institute, 15% of independent workers used online marketplaces to find work. These marketplaces, including Fiverr and Lyft , have been criticized as exploiting workers. Many periodicals and newspapers offer the option of ghost signing, when a freelance writer signs with an editor but their name is not listed on the byline of their article(s). This allows

183-553: A Massachusetts law states that companies can hire independent contractors only to perform work that is "outside the usual course of business of the employer," meaning workers working on the company's core business must be classified as employees. According to this statute, a software engineering firm cannot outsource work to a software engineering consultant, without hiring the consultant as an employee. The firm could, however, hire an independent contractor working as an electrician, interior decorator, or painter. This raises questions about

244-452: A company after graduating from college and stay with that corporation for the duration of their career . In conservative Japanese culture, becoming a salaryman is a typical career choice for young men and women, as parents map out their child's education path in order to make sure they can attend a prestigious university which in turn will lead to recruitment by a major company. Those who do not take this career path are regarded as living with

305-496: A dark suit, a white shirt, and a simple tie in neutral colors like navy, black, or gray. Dressing in such a manner is not only part of professionalism, but also following the cultural emphasis on group harmony where dress uniformity shows everyone belongs to a team, as opposed to standing out which is often seen as potentially disruptive to this harmony. Companies often have specific dress codes, and employees follow these guidelines as part of their role. While companies often take part in

366-627: A flexible basis in a range of creative, managerial, scientific and technical occupations; they are not a homogeneous group and as such, they cannot be considered or investigated as a whole. They are generally characterised by a large portion of autonomy, a high labour productivity, knowledge intensive performance, social commitment and a large dose of entrepreneurship and specialisation. In the U.S. in 2009, federal and state agencies began increasing their oversight of freelancers and other workers whom employers classify as independent contractors . The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended that

427-484: A form of gender pay gap . The Professional Writers Association of Canada report showed no significant difference between the earnings of male and female freelancers, though part-time freelancers generally earned less than full-time freelancers. Remote work is often cited as an attractive feature of freelancing, yet research suggests that it introduces new sets of constraints for the process of doing work, particularly for married women with families, who continue to bear

488-409: A gradual decrease in the number of avid mahjong players, and by the 1980s, it became common not to show any interest at it at all. Golf became widely popular during the economic bubble, when golf club passes became useful tools for currying favor with corporate executives. Many mid-level salarymen were pressured into taking up golf to participate in golfing events with their superiors. The collapse of

549-535: A large measure of independence in the accomplishment of the professional activities. This definition comes from Directive (2010/41/EU) on the application of the principle of equal treatment between men and women engaged in an activity in a self-employed capacity. The European Forum of Independent Professionals defines freelancers as: "a highly-skilled subset of self-employed workers, without employers nor employees, offering specialised services of an intellectual and knowledge-based nature". Independent professionals work on

610-416: A person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance workers are sometimes represented by a company or a temporary agency that resells freelance labor to clients; others work independently or use professional associations or websites to get work. While the term independent contractor would be used in a different register of English to designate

671-622: A profile where they include a description of the services they offer, examples of their work, and, in some cases, information about their rates. Buyers register and complete a basic profile, and then post projects outlining their requirements. Buyers will then bid for these projects on a fixed price or hourly basis. Many of these websites have user review sections that affect the reputation of freelancers who list there, and which may be manipulated. Freelance marketplaces have globalized competition for some jobs, allowing workers in high- and low-income countries to compete with one another. According to

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732-477: A reasonable price, without all the frills and facilities of luxury/international class hotels. Business hotels typically do not have banquet halls, conference rooms, swimming pool nor exercise room, although they may have an onsite restaurant offering breakfast and late-night ramen, while some establishments come with an onsen . The prevalence of salarymen in Japanese society has given birth to many depictions by both

793-418: A relationship with a publication. Some freelancers may provide written estimates of work and request deposits from clients. Payment for freelance work also depends on industry, skills, experience and location. Freelancers may charge by the day, hour, a piece rate, or on a per-project basis. Instead of a flat rate or fee, some freelancers have adopted a value-based pricing method based on the perceived value of

854-600: A salary for doing nothing. Salarymen are known for working long hours, sometimes over eighty hours per week. Often, because of his busy work schedule, the salaryman does not have time to raise a family and his work becomes a lifelong commitment. There is also a belief that the "amount of time spent at the workplace correlates to the perceived efficiency of the employee." As a result of this intense work-driven lifestyle, salarymen may be more likely to suffer from mental or physical health problems, including heart failure, or to commit suicide. A salaryman's typical outfit consists of

915-454: A salaryman reaches age 30, they are typically promoted to their first supervisor role (Kacho), overseeing new hires who are younger than them. Traditional Japanese companies do not allow employees to supervise people who are older than themselves due to "respect". At age 40 they would become a department head (Bacho), and between 40 and 50 they would be promoted to senior management (although these posts are still considered middle management, below

976-504: A staff journalist of similar age and experience level working full-time at outlets such as the Ottawa Citizen or Montreal Gazette newspapers, earned at least $ 63,500 Canadian dollars that year, the top scale rate negotiated by the union, The Newspaper Guild -Communications Workers of America. Given the gendered stratification of journalism, with more women working as freelancers than men, this disparity in income can be interpreted as

1037-410: A stigma and less prestige. On the other hand, the word salaryman is sometimes used with derogatory connotation for his total dependence on his employer and lack of individuality. Other popular concepts surrounding salarymen include karōshi , or death from overwork. The word sararīman is often described as a wasei-eigo , a Japanese formation from English loanwords , but it appears instead to be

1098-657: A straight borrowing from the English phrase "salaried man", which predates the Japanese term by nearly a century. The Japanese term saw widespread use by 1930, even before government expansion and militarization drove the growth of white-collar employment. The term does not include all workers who receive a set salary, but only "white-collar workers in the large bureaucracy of a business firm or government office." The term includes those who work for government (e.g., bureaucrats ) and major companies (e.g., those listed in Nikkei 225 ). Workers in

1159-556: A variety of reasons for freelancing, the perceived benefits differ by gender, industry, and lifestyle. For instance, the 2012 Freelance Industry Report reported that men and women freelance for different reasons. Female survey respondents indicated that they prefer the scheduling freedom and flexibility that freelancing offers, while male survey respondents indicated they freelance to follow or pursue personal passions. Freelancing also enables people to obtain higher levels of employment in isolated communities. The ability to pick and choose who

1220-493: A work's copyright arises when its author produces it on behalf of a client. The matter is governed by copyright law, which varies by country. The default ownership lies with the client in some countries and with the freelancing author in others. The degree to which either moral or economic ownership of a work for hire may be modified contractually varies by country. A 2018 McKinsey study found that up to 162 million people in Europe and

1281-411: Is "Koyoi mofumofu!!" ( 今宵mofumofu!! ) performed by Azumi Waki and Maaya Uchida , while the ending theme is "Moffu Moffu de Yoinoja yo" ( もっふもっふ DE よいのじゃよ ) performed by Waki. The series ran for 12 episodes. Funimation licensed the series for English-speaking regions and produced an English dub . The anime has a rating of 4.7/5 on Crunchyroll based on 5.7k votes. LofZOdyssey of Comic Watch gave

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1342-492: Is also inexact; however, figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the proportion of remote workers rose from 9.2% in 2001 to 10.7% in 2011. It has been estimated, however, that there are approximately 1.7 million freelancers in the UK. Freelancing is a gendered form of work. The 2012 Freelance Industry Report estimated that more than 71% of freelancers are women between

1403-502: Is an originally Japanese word for salaried workers. In Japanese popular culture, it is portrayed as a white-collar worker who shows unwavering loyalty and commitment to his employer, prioritizing work over everything else in their life often at the expense of their family. "Salarymen" are expected to work long hours, whether overtime is paid or not. They socialize with colleagues and bosses, including singing karaoke , drinking , and visiting hostess bars . "Salarymen" typically enter

1464-553: Is commonly attributed to Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) in Ivanhoe (1820) to describe a "medieval mercenary warrior" or "free- lance " (indicating that the lance is not sworn to any lord's services, not that the lance is available free of charge). It changed to a figurative noun around the 1860s and was recognized as a verb in 1903 by authorities in etymology such as the Oxford English Dictionary . Only in modern times has

1525-646: Is considered a failure, not only of him or her, but also of their parents. The life of a salaryman revolves around work. The activities that he or she does outside of his or her working hours typically involve his or her coworkers, which lessens the distance between him or her and work. Due to this expectation, there have been a variety of derogatory names given to salarymen: 社畜 ( shachiku , literally "corporate livestock" in reference to wage slavery ), 会社の犬 ( kaisha no inu or "company's dog"), and 企業戦士 ( kigyou senshi or "corporate soldier"), to ridicule salarymen. Changing social circumstances have greatly diversified

1586-572: Is true. While most freelancers have at least ten years of experience prior to working independently, experienced freelancers do not always earn an income equal to that of full-time employment. Feedback from members suggests that web portals such as Freelancer.com tend to attract low-paying clients that, although demanding very high standards, pay ~$ 10 per hour or less. Low-cost suppliers frequently offer to work at rates as low as $ 1–$ 2 per hour. Because most projects require bidding, professionals will not bid because they refuse to work at such rates. This has

1647-523: The Freelancers Union estimated that 1 in 3 workers in the United States was self-employed (approximately 42 million), with more than four million (43%) of those self-employed workers as members of the creative class , a stratum of work specifically associated with freelance industries, such as knowledge workers, technologists, professional writers, artists, entertainers, and media workers. In 2016,

1708-461: The cognitive-cultural economy . According to the 2012 Freelance Industry Report compiled primarily about North America freelancing, nearly half of freelancers do writing work, with 18% of freelancers listing writing as a primary skill, 10% editing/copy-editing, and 10% as copy-writing. 20% of freelancers listed their primary skills as design. Next on the list was translating (8%), web development (5.5%), and marketing (4%). In 2018, freelancing

1769-466: The mizu shōbai (nightlife) and entertainment industries (including actors, singers, musicians, artists) are not included even though their income may be salary based. Similarly, doctors, lawyers, politicians, freelancers and corporate executives (the C-suite, board of directors) are also excluded. Engineers and accountants who have their own firm/practice are not included as well. A typical description of

1830-655: The Cool Biz initiative which encourages workers to wear lighter clothing (short-sleeved shirts instead of long ones) during the hot months to reduce air conditioning use, Japanese salarymen still retain a clean and professional look, in contrast to Western business casual which permits khakis or jeans with polo shirts. In Japan, hotel chains created business hotels to cater to salarymen for work-related travel. Similar to economy and limited service hotels in North America, Japanese business hotels provide small but efficient rooms at

1891-464: The Freelancers Union estimated that 35% of the workforce in the United States was self-employed (approximately 55 million). This workforce earned an estimated $ 1 trillion from freelancing in 2016—a significant share of the U.S. economy. In 2017, a study by MBO Partners estimated the total number of self-employed Americans aged 21 and above to be 40.9 million. The total number of freelancers in UK

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1952-523: The Internet to provide economical access to remote workers, and frequently leverage technology to manage workflow to and from the employer. Much computer freelance work is being outsourced to developing countries outside the United States and Europe. International freelancers use their skills in English to enable greater pay and flexibility in their work. Freelance marketplaces provide a marketplace for freelancers and buyers. Service providers or sellers create

2013-515: The Japanese and American media. Some films in Japan about salarymen include Mr. Salaryman , Japanese Salaryman NEO (based on the TV series), and a drama series entitled History of a Salaryman . There is a certain expectation among the middle and upper classes for Japanese people to become salarymen. For many young Japanese men and women, accepting anything less than becoming a salaryman and conforming to its ideal

2074-479: The Secretary of Labor have its Wage and Hour Division "focus on misclassification of employees as independent contractors during targeted investigations." The increased regulation is meant to ensure workers are treated fairly and that companies are not misclassifying workers as independent contractors to avoid paying appropriate employment taxes and contributions to workers' compensation and unemployment compensation. At

2135-468: The United States engage in some form of independent work. It represents 20-30 percent of the entire working age population. The total number of freelancers in USA is inexact, as of 2013, the most recent governmental report on independent contractors was published in 2005 by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics . At that time, there were approximately 10.3 million United States workers (7.4% of

2196-449: The ages of 30 and 50. Surveys of other specific areas of freelancing have similar trends. Demographic research on Amazon Mechanical Turk revealed that the majority of its North American workers are women. Catherine McKercher's research on journalism as a profession has showcased that while media organizations are still male-dominated, the reverse is true for freelance journalists and editors, whose ranks are mainly women. Freelancers have

2257-468: The anime a 7.6/10 rating, the writer stating, "If you're expecting fast-paced, hyper-energetic slapstick comedy from this show, it's best to put that thought to rest now. Senko-san was a much slower series than most, and when we pause for a moment, that makes a lot of sense." Gadget Tsūshin included Senko's catchphrase (" uyan ") in their 2019 list of the most popular anime-related buzzwords . Salaryman Salaryman ( サラリーマン , sararīman )

2318-980: The brunt of household chores and childcare despite increases in their paid work time. For instance, three years of ethnographic research about teleworkers in Australia conducted by Melissa Gregg, a Principal Engineer and Researcher in Residence for the Intel Science and Technology Center for Social Computing at UC Irvine , raises concerns over how both physical isolation and continuous access enabled with networked digital media puts pressure on homeworkers to demonstrate their commitments through continual responses by email and to conceal their family or home life. The Internet has opened up many freelance opportunities, expanded available markets, and has contributed to service sector growth in many economies. Offshore outsourcing , online outsourcing and crowdsourcing are heavily reliant on

2379-548: The case was eventually settled for the benefit of freelance writers whether or not they had registered their copyright with the Copyright Office. Copyright is rescinded only when a freelancer signs a contract specifying that they are " working for hire ," or if they are hired into employment. These rights are further specified in U.S. copyright law, Section 101 in the Copyright Act of 1976 (17 USC §101). The term freelancer

2440-404: The common practice of consulting, because a company would typically hire a management consulting firm or self-employed consultant to address business-specific needs that are not "outside the usual course of business of the employer." In the United States, where the federal constitution automatically grants ownership of the copyright only to the author, the contract agreement must explicitly use

2501-451: The economic bubble led to the closing of many golf courses, and playing golf with executives has become increasingly rare. However, some current salarymen may have golfing experience from their student days, and golf is still acknowledged as an expensive hobby for salarymen. Extreme pressure on salarymen can lead to death by overwork, or karōshi . Salarymen feel intense pressure to fulfill their duty to support their family because of

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2562-542: The effect of reducing the overall quality of the services provided. According to research conducted in 2005 by the Professional Writers Association of Canada on Canadian journalists and editors, there is a wage gap between staff and freelance journalists. While the typical Canadian full-time freelancer is female, between 35 and 55, holding a college diploma and often a graduate degree, she typically earns about $ 29,999 Canadian dollars before taxes. Meanwhile,

2623-465: The freelancer works with is another benefit. The freelancer interviews a potential client and they get to pick whether or not to work with that individual or company. Freelancing is also taken up by workers who have been laid-off, who cannot find full-time employment, or for those industries such as journalism which are relying increasingly on contingent labor rather than full-time staff. Freelancers also consist of students trying to make ends meet during

2684-470: The gendered expectations placed on men. According to a Washington Post article, the Japanese government struggled for years to pass a law limiting to the number of hours one can work, and the issue has been prevalent since the 1970s. In 2014, after 30 years of activism, Japan's parliament (the Japanese Diet ) passed a law "promoting countermeasures against karōshi." However, many Japanese still criticize

2745-451: The government and believe there should be some form of punishment for companies that violate work hour laws. Approximately 2,000 annual applications are filed by the families of salarymen that die of karōshi. However, the death toll may be much higher, and "as many as 8,000 of the 30,000 annual suicides each year are thought to be work-related," with "as many as 10,000 non-suicide karōshi deaths per year." Karōshi, literally "overwork death,"

2806-477: The language, that the product is "work for hire", and that the copyright is transferred to the client. Otherwise, only the freelancer will own the right to reproduce the work. Registration of copyright is not required for ownership of these rights; however, litigation against infringement may require registration, as documented in the class action lawsuit, Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick . In that case, freelance writers sued publishers for copyright violations, though

2867-461: The life of the salaryman outside of work. Though the importance of social drinking has not declined, its image has changed over time from mass partying during the economic bubble to conservative consumption at home after the collapse of the economy during the 1990s. Mahjong was an immensely popular game among the 1960s generation of salarymen, who brought the game into company circles directly from high school and college groups. The 1970s generation saw

2928-447: The possibility of long periods without work. Additionally, freelancers do not receive employment benefits such as a pension , sick leave , paid holidays, bonuses or health insurance , which can be a serious hardship for freelancers residing in countries such as the US without universal health care . Freelancers often earn less than their employed counterparts, although sometimes the opposite

2989-515: The results to the client. By custom, payment arrangements may be upfront, percentage upfront, or upon completion. For more complex projects, a contract may set a payment schedule based on milestones or outcomes. One of the drawbacks of freelancing is that there is no guaranteed payment, and the work can be highly precarious . In order to ensure payment, many freelancers use online payment platforms to protect themselves or work with local clients that can be held accountable. The question of ownership of

3050-525: The salaryman is a male white-collar employee who typically earns his salary "based on individual abilities rather than on seniority." Companies typically hire the salarymen straight out of high school, and they are expected to stay with the company until retirement, around the ages of 55 or 60. As a reward for their loyalty, companies rarely fire the salarymen (see below for the Madogiwa Zoku or “the window tribe”) except in special "dire" circumstances. Once

3111-717: The same time, this increased enforcement is affecting companies whose business models are based on using non-employee workers, as well as independent professionals who have chosen to work as independent contractors. For example, book publishing companies have traditionally outsourced certain tasks like indexing and proofreading to individuals working as independent contractors. Self-employed accountants and attorneys have traditionally hired out their services to accounting and law firms needing assistance. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service offers some guidance on what constitutes self-employment , but states have enacted stricter laws to address how independent contractors should be defined. For example,

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3172-452: The semester. In interviews, and on blogs about freelancing, freelancers list choice and flexibility as a benefit. Freelancing, like other forms of casual labor , can be precarious work . Websites, books, portals and organizations for freelancers often feature advice on getting and keeping a steady work stream. Beside the lack of job security, many freelancers also report the ongoing hassle of dealing with employers who don't pay on time and

3233-486: The spirit world to relieve Kuroto from his unhappy life and help him find happiness again. An anime television series adaptation was announced on December 2, 2018. The series is animated by Doga Kobo and directed by Tomoaki Koshida, with Yoshiko Nakamura handling series composition, and Miwa Oshima designing the characters. Yoshiaki Fujisawa composed the music. The series aired from April 10 to June 26, 2019, on AT-X and various local television stations. The opening theme

3294-482: The standard working day and working week. The European Commission does not define "freelancers" in any legislative text. However, the European Commission defines a self-employed person as someone: "pursuing a gainful activity for their own account, under the conditions laid down by national law". In the exercise of such an activity, the personal element is of special importance and such exercise always involves

3355-494: The tax and employment classes of this type of worker, the term "freelancing" is most common in culture and creative industries, and use of this term may indicate participation therein. Fields, professions, and industries where freelancing is predominant include: music , writing , acting , computer programming , web design , graphic design , translating and illustrating , film and video production, and other forms of piece work that some cultural theorists consider central to

3416-461: The top executives/directors). They retire between the ages of 55 to 65. Underperforming employees in the over 40 age bracket are sidelined with some of their responsibilities taken away, although they do not formally receive a pay cut nor a demotion (Madogiwa Zoku or “the window tribe”). Haruo Shimada, a professor at Keio University , states that "It's important to treat madogiwa-zoku well, because many young people think about their future in terms of

3477-407: The way these older people are treated", in line with business orientation where employees are expected to show loyalty to their companies and be shown loyalty in return. In other words, no-longer-productive employees were kept around to raise the morale of productive employees, since the young and productive would be able to look forward to the day in which they, too, could sit by the window and collect

3538-502: The workforce) employed as independent contractors of all sorts. In 2011, Jeffrey Eisenach , an economist at George Mason University , estimated that number of freelancers had grown by one million. While in 2012, the Aberdeen Group , a private research company, estimated that 26% (approx. 81 million) of the United States population was a part of the contingent workforce , a category of casual labor that includes freelancing. In 2013,

3599-627: The writer to receive benefits while still being classified as a freelancer, and independent of any set organization. In some countries this can lead to taxation issues (e.g., so-called IR35 violations in the UK). Ghost signing has little bearing on whether a writer is a freelancer or employee in the US. Freelancers often must handle contracts, legal issues, accounting, marketing, and other business functions by themselves. If they do choose to pay for professional services, they can sometimes turn into significant out-of-pocket expenses . Working hours can extend beyond

3660-782: Was first diagnosed as a "circulatory disease brought on by stress" in the late 1970s after the 1973 oil crisis , which took a toll on the post-war reconstruction of Japanese industry. Since then, the number of deaths from overwork has increased, especially at larger and more prestigious companies. In 2002, Kenichi Uchino, a 30-year-old quality-control manager at Toyota , collapsed and died after working over 80 hours unpaid overtime for six months. After this incident, Toyota announced that it would begin monitoring their workers' health and would pay for all of their overtime hours. Women General Freelancer Freelance (sometimes spelled free-lance or free lance ), freelancer , or freelance worker , are terms commonly used for

3721-596: Was projected to grow to $ 20–$ 30 billion in the next 5–7 years in India , and the freelancers in the US will comprise 40% (approx.) of the workforce at the projected growth rate from the same time. Depending on the industry, freelance work practices vary and have changed over time. In some industries such as consulting, freelancers may require clients to sign written contracts . While in journalism or writing, freelancers may work for free or do work "on spec" to build their reputations or

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