Stop the insanity!

Japanese workers in their 30s are so stressed out that they're taking lengthy mental health breaks, as reported here:

Japanese office workers, particularly those in their 30s, are increasingly stressed and struck by mental health problems, partly because of grueling corporate competition, a new study shows...

A report by the Mental Health Research Institute of the Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development said nearly 75 percent of the survey's respondents reported having employees who take leaves lasting longer than one month, up from 67 percent in 2004.

Sixty-one percent of the polled companies said employees in their 30s constituted the largest group with mental health problems, a sharp increase from 41.8 percent in 2002 and 49.3 percent in 2004, according to the biennial survey released last month...

"As the traditional, seniority-based pay system has been largely replaced with performance-based pay and achievement systems ... colleagues have become rivals," institute analyst Kotaro Kusunoki said Tuesday.

"Office workers are also under enormous pressure because of demanding responsibility compared to little room for discretion given," he added.

Damn, that sounds familiar. And, it's not exactly cost efficient, now is it? Sounds like it's time for a change.

Turn and face the strange ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...