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The story
On 5ch’s Nandemo Jikkyo G board, a poster working as a temp (haken) at a major corporation sparked a mixed reaction by writing, “If we’re both losers anyway, being a temp at a big company beats being a full-time employee at a small one.” The original poster cited generous benefits and support for earning qualifications, but replies pushed back with concerns about job insecurity after age 50, disagreements over interpreting the Worker Dispatch Act’s so-called “3-year rule,” and the real-world example of staffing agency Rimp, which went bankrupt this past June. Beyond the clash over whether being a full-timer or a temp is the better deal, the thread later spiraled into accusations that the original poster was replying to themselves using multiple accounts (jien).
What people said
Honestly, being a temp at a big company beats being a full-timer at a small one — way less stress.
Benefits are solid too.
I'm not that motivated myself, but they've got solid support for skill-building and certifications (training sessions, free textbooks, qualification allowances), so it'll work out somehow.
I'm actually on the side that hires you guys, and honestly I think you're screwed — there's no incentive for them to raise your pay.
You're a big help to us, sure, but if someone shows promise we actively push them from fixed-term → regional full-timer → full-timer.
Even with certifications, a 50-something with no real experience isn't getting hired anywhere.
Notice how there are barely any temps in their 50s? Most people hit their contract limit, or get hospitalized once and can't renew, and end up doing Timee (a gig-work app) or other day-labor jobs after that.
That's a common misunderstanding, but no.
As long as the client company doesn't end the contract, you can stay for however many years.
If there really were a hard 3-year rule, it'd be way too inconvenient for the government and big corporations.
Isn't that just about how the staffing agency's system works? For the record, I am a full-time employee — of the staffing agency.
Got real confirmation of that once I got older.
Just having a bonus alone can nearly double your annual income.
Exactly why. A direct-hire contract employee still has a shot, but a "full-time-style" temp doesn't. Do what you want, but think it through.
Even temps can get converted to full-time staff, you know.
And even without conversion, there's no way they can just cut us loose.
Maybe in an office job, sure, but on-site, temps make up like half the workforce — the company would fall apart without us.
They've been covering everything with temps for so long that there are barely any young full-timers left, just middle-aged and older ones.
I've seen plenty of guys that confident get cut loose anyway.
If you're not even on a fixed-term non-regular contract, that kind of thing normally isn't allowed — and even then, there'd have to be a severance payment.
What kind of company is taking advantage of you like that?
Even if I get cut, as long as I've saved up money by then, there's nothing to be scared of.
I'm in my 20s now — even if I get cut at 50, it won't be a problem.
Staffing agencies are dropping like flies right now, so I doubt you'll even make it to 50 in this job. Just search it — sources come up immediately.
There were just too many staffing agencies.
It's only the shady ones that can't land contracts that are going under.
That's actually pretty on point.
Only people who've made peace with it and gotten philosophical about it can stick it out as a long-term temp.
Being a full-timer at a small company doesn't make you a loser.
You've been poisoned by the internet way too much, man.
Same situation as OP — it's genuinely not a bad company, but people around you still just see the "temp" label.
Must be rough these days if you're in the marriage-hunting phase of life.
Honestly, these days nobody gets married except for the local bad-boy types who don't even care whether you're rich or poor from working at a big company.
Then temps aren't losers either, right? That's not even the point right now.
You're literally the only one who's been calling temps "losers" in the first place.
You're the only one even using the word "loser" here.
Which "big company" are you even talking about?
You can tell a lot about a firm from which staffing agency it contracts with, so spill it.
It has come to light that Rimp, a staffing company headquartered in Chuo Ward, Fukuoka City, received a bankruptcy commencement order from the Fukuoka District Court on June 17.
[See photos] Bankrupt: the staffing firm that specialized in call-center placements
Total liabilities are estimated at around ¥410 million.
■ About 30,000 registered temp staff — call-center staffing was its core business
According to Teikoku Databank's Fukuoka branch, Rimp was founded in June 2013 as "Create Staffing."
Its core business was staffing for call centers, and it also ran its own in-house call centers.
Rimp had roughly 30,000 registered temp staff.
About 70% of its clients were in large-scale call-center operations, and it also placed staff with health-food mail-order retailers and mobile phone agency businesses.
That's registered staff count, not actual employee headcount.
And it's a company that's only been around a bit over ten years.
That counts as "big company" status?
If you can land contracts with major companies, that makes you a major player.
The whole point was assuming OP's placement is at a big company, and that the staffing agency behind it went under — so it's right on topic.
I think both are losers, that's why I said it that way.
If you're replying "then they're not losers," that means you think I called them losers in the first place, right?
Your Japanese logic's a bit off, dude.
I'm on the move right now so I can't focus that well, sorry about that.
Your sockpuppeting's been caught, you know.
Used the wrong device, huh? Game over.
What would even be the point of sockpuppeting here?
You lose.
Ahh, and it was just getting good too.
It's not even a big company. Are you unemployed or something?
It literally says "major call center" right there. Can this guy not even read Japanese?
Nah, I can tell even when you're trying to cover it up. Or is it actually some tiny outfit?
Jumping in here, but you've lost this one.
Now's your chance to bail, if you're gonna.
Background and Key Points of This Debate
Japan’s Worker Dispatch Act includes a “limit on the dispatch period,” capping assignments to the same workplace/organizational unit at three years in principle, with an extension requiring procedures such as consulting the labor union or employee representatives. One poster in the thread claimed there’s “no such thing as a 3-year rule,” but the cap itself is indeed written into the law — in practice, many companies get around it by rotating temps between departments or converting them to indefinite-term employment. The bankruptcy of staffing agency Rimp, raised partway through the discussion, is a real event: the Fukuoka District Court issued a bankruptcy commencement order in June of this year against the firm, whose core business was call-center staffing and which reportedly carried liabilities of roughly ¥410 million. What split the thread was a difference in values over whether being a temp at a big company or a full-timer at a small one is the better deal — both sides argued from personal experience, and no clear consensus was reached.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “I work as a temp and there’s one thing I want to tell you all.”
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