In terms of the company’s outlook, I believe the Japan business is already in the stage before being reduced to little more than a sales office. The company’s performance in fiscal year 2025 has been worse than anything seen before, and on top of that, many campaigns and projects have been halted entirely due to budget cuts. Several brands have effectively disappeared from Japan and are now in a phase where the only thing left is to sell through the remaining inventory.
I believe the biggest reason for this decline is the dramatic shift in the company’s internal culture. A few years ago, the company carried out large-scale layoffs, yet it never adequately replaced the talent that was lost. Despite this, senior management has continued to demand that the same amount of work be maintained. As a result, employees on the ground have been forced to spend nearly all of their time just keeping operations running, leaving very little room for innovation or any truly strategic work.
From what I have seen, the turnover rate among marketing employees within their first three years exceeds 90%. Most of those who leave do so after being mentally worn down by power harassment from senior leadership, unreasonable demands, and an overwhelming volume of day-to-day operational work.
What is especially concerning is that there seems to be no sign of any real effort to change this situation. Instead, the Japan office appears to be blindly following the demands of activist investors in Europe, while salaries remain stagnant and various organizational changes are pushed through without employee consent. Overall, the working environment seems to be getting worse and worse.
