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The story
A FORZA STYLE article about a 40-something boss left speechless by a 20-something subordinate who kept fiddling with their phone under the desk during meetings was picked up on 5ch’s News Express+ board. While plenty of commenters chimed in with their own stories about young people’s smartphone addiction and public etiquette, many also questioned the article’s credibility, calling it “another ‘kotatsu article’” (a piece written from home without real reporting) and pointing out that “the setup falls apart — it’s supposed to be an internal department meeting, but then a client shows up.” The discussion went beyond generational griping, touching on the current seller’s-market job hunt for new graduates and concerns over declining Japanese language skills among young people.
“What could possibly be that interesting to watch?” A 20-something subordinate fiddles with their phone under the desk during meetings — the shocking screen time habits of young people that left a 40-something boss speechless [Expert advice]
FORZA STYLE — “Humor is a gentleman’s virtue”
LIFESTYLE: Case Files of Women
Source: forzastyle.com / Original article here
What people said
Or maybe the phone is the 'main unit' and the human is just an accessory.
That'll actually become true eventually.
Following AI's advice will get better results than thinking for yourself, more and more often.
A meat proxy.
Like how Sakana-kun's 'true form' is actually the boxfish hat on his head.
(Sakana-kun is a famous Japanese TV fish expert who always wears a boxfish-shaped hat.)
This has been going on for over 10 years already — I remember a couple who came in together and didn't say a single word to each other, just fiddling with their phones.
On trains, in the street, everywhere — young people are all glued to their phones.
Kind of gives off insect vibes, it's creepy.
Feels like more and more people are on their phones even in the bathroom these days.
And they don't wash their hands either.
Even so, never during a meeting.
I'd sneak out for a bit and use my phone to buy regional horse racing tickets or check results, though.
Flip phones had physical keys, so you could keep your face forward and send texts with your hand stuffed in your pocket.
There've been a lot of these lately…
I don't really see anyone actually using it, but for some reason summary sites and summary-style videos use it a lot.
Feels like they're trying to make it a thing.
It's not really trending.
But smartphone addiction leading to early-onset dementia has actually been flagged as a real medical risk.
Another fabricated story, huh.
The client's probably from a different meeting.
This is exactly why old farts are the worst.
It's not really about the meeting — the point is he watches videos pretty much all day long.
Bad posture too — they're slowly turning back into cavemen.
What a waste of labor costs.
But a game event only happens at that one specific time.
And if you're playing with your clan, the responsibility's too big to just skip it.
Reminds me of a guy 20 years ago who got told, 'if the online game event matters that much to you, just go home' — and he actually left and never came back.
The generation just a bit older felt too embarrassed to do that, so when told to look it up, they'd go read a book instead.
I don't think it's really about generation, honestly.
Even on 5ch, where the userbase is aging fast, plenty of people can't hold a coherent conversation in Japanese.
Feels like the number of people you can't communicate with keeps growing every year.
Did they just pass everyone who took the entrance exam?
There's no way you can judge everything from a written test and an interview.
Candidates hide things too.
Can't really be helped from HR's perspective — it's been a seller's market forever.
It'll only get tougher in a few years, so they want to lock in as many hires as they can now.
Apparently just being young makes you a valuable asset these days — unless someone's truly hopeless, substance is secondary.
I'd bet the people who got shut out of the limited openings during the Employment Ice Age are, without a doubt, more solid and serious than these guys.
(The "Employment Ice Age" refers to the brutal job market Japanese graduates faced during the 1990s–2000s recession.)
That's because you only ever talk to people on 5ch.
Sure, that's fair — and it is limited to 5ch specifically.
I don't feel that way when I'm using the work chat.
My point is that 5ch itself seems to be getting dumber.
Maybe the dementia rate is climbing right along with the userbase's average age lol
(Weekly Jitsuwa is a Japanese tabloid known for lurid, often dubious-sounding stories.)
If you want it Knuckles-style, I'll take a crack at it.
(Knuckles is another Japanese tabloid known for its bizarre, over-the-top stories.)
I figured it was some punk kid who never grew out of his student mentality, but when I glanced over, it turned out to be a pretty put-together-looking woman.
Guess you can put all the effort in the world into your looks and still completely lose your sense of public manners once your phone takes over.
You should've hit on her right there.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The original article is a feature piece from the web outlet FORZA STYLE, framed as a boss’s first-person account. On 5ch, the conversation focused less on the content itself and more on repeated doubts about its credibility — commenters speculated it was a “kotatsu article” written without any real reporting, and several pointed out contradictions in the described situation. At the same time, many users related to the phenomenon of “a subordinate who’s always on their phone” from personal experience, and the thread grew beyond simple criticism of the article to cover young people’s smartphone addiction, public etiquette, the current seller’s market in new-graduate hiring, and concerns about declining Japanese language ability — touching on generational commentary and the structure of the labor market. Since the truth of the article can’t actually be verified, it’s best read less as a question of “did this really happen?” and more through the lens of “why do stories like this keep getting told, and why do they spark both sympathy and backlash?”
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “‘What could possibly be that interesting to watch?’ A 20-something subordinate fiddles with their phone under the desk during meetings, leaving a 40-something boss speechless — young people’s screen time [FORZA].”
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