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The story
The thread started as a “workplace collapse” report — a member hid delays in their progress reports, and the PM caught on and came down hard on them. But early in the thread, someone cut in with “hold on, what does PM even stand for?” and the whole thing went off the rails. Project Manager? 11PM? Prime Minister? Or Power-harassment Manager? Originating on the Nandemo Jikkyo board, this thread ended up generating more buzz from the gag debate over what PM actually means than from the original workplace drama. Posters also pointed out that the term means different things depending on the industry — in real estate, for instance, PM stands for “property management.”
What people said
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The PM notices and comes down hard on them
A company like that just ends up keeping nothing but useless people and taking a huge loss
This would all be solved if the president just announced at the morning meeting, "You won't get in trouble for delays or mistakes, so just tell us right away"
People used to call it "Anpan" for short (a nickname blending "am/pm," also the word for a sweet bean-filled bun)
As someone from the HY generation ("Heisei-born, yutori-educated" — roughly millennials), this one really hits home
Maybe "Assistant Manager"?
I worked hard and got promoted all the way up to WP ("World Producer" — a joke rank one tier above PM)
Once we know it's unreasonable
someone else will sort it out
let's just leave it to them
You went and decided that all on your own, didn't you
World Producer?
to join the debate too
just a little is fine, a simple "I like this"
is all it takes
They exist to brutally grill members so the project doesn't fall behind 😤
What kind of job title is that even supposed to be
Not totally sure, but is the one hiding the report Miyamoto, and the new hire who got worn down Iihara? (referencing Yakult Swallows players Tomohito Miyamoto and Mamoru Iihara)
What's even funny about it
Lennon's the one who got scolded
It's Yoko Ono's fault
Background and Key Points of This Topic
In the IT industry, “PM” is widely used as shorthand for “project manager,” the person in charge of managing progress. But the term shifts meaning depending on the industry — in real estate, for example, it refers to “property management.” Judging from the original post (a hidden delay followed by a scolding), the IT-industry meaning was likely what was intended, but commenters never settled on a single definition, and the thread spun off into wordplay riffs like “prime minister” and “power-harassment manager.” It’s not unusual on 5ch for a workplace-report thread like this to devolve into wordplay partway through, and this is a textbook example of that pattern. As for the underlying setup itself — hiding delays because reporting them gets you yelled at — that’s a classic vicious cycle often pointed out in progress-management circles, and some commenters noted it could be solved if the president simply announced up front, “I won’t get angry, so just tell me right away.”
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo board) thread “[Tragic News] My Workplace Is Collapsing WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.”
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