Japan company wows social media with cat ‘staff’ – office clerk, auditor, even ‘chaircat’

The cats serve in positions such as “chief clerk”, “manager”, “auditor”, and even “chaircat’. - Photo: QQ.com

TOKYO: While having a cat in the office is no longer a novelty, hosting nearly a dozen certainly is.

After adopting its first cat, Futaba, from a sushi restaurant in 2004, Qnote, a Japanese tech company, simply could not resist “hiring” more felines.

It now boasts 10 cat “employees” that live around the office – most of them full-time – and the company has renovated its office to accommodate its feline friends.

The office has also become the ideal workplace for the 32 humans who enjoy the companionship offered by the cats.

When Qnote moved to a bigger four-storey office building in 2020, it did not forget its most important employees.

The company refurbished the second and third floors to show its commitment to the cats’ well-being, installed 12 cat toilets and cat shelves, and even painted the walls to prevent scratches.

Qnote assigned different office roles to the cats, including “chief clerk”, “manager”, “auditor”, and “chaircat”.

The chaircat is Futaba, who, at 20 years old, is the highest-ranking employee in the company, even outranking the boss, Nobuyuki Tsuruta.

Six of the cats are the offspring of Futaba and another employee’s feline. There is also a formerly stray cat, a cat an employee saved in a traffic accident, and one adopted from a cat cafe.

The company had 11 cats until one died in 2022. Now eight of them live in the office full-time, and two live at an employee’s home.

Tsuruta, a cat lover himself, said many staff members also have cats at home, and the animals have become an effective tool for attracting new employees. They have also helped reduce the company’s quit rate, he said.

Qnote specialises in web and app designing and places “loving cats” as its top prerequisite for job applicants. Their website also features a lot of cat elements, including the logo, which is obviously a cat.

Tsuruta told Japanese news outlet Mainichi Shimbun the employees acknowledge that cats would interrupt people’s work, which they welcome, as it forces them to take a break.

He added that the cats have “helped people bond” and offer insights for managers to better learn about their team members based on how they interacted with the cats.

In return, the employees treat the cats as family and human employees voluntarily take turns replacing the cat’s litter trays and feeding them when the office is closed.

Online observers loved this company.

“I envy the company’s human staff so much,” someone said online.

Another user said: “The first cat Futaba has lived 20 years here – which is proof that the company treated them well.”

A third person added: “A company that’s full of love. They deserve to make money and get bigger,” a third said. - South China Morning Post