![]() ![]() Many older volunteers often don't need the money.Ĭalifornia-based labor economist Andy Schwarz suggested some volunteers would even pay to play. Volunteers also get involved out of civic duty or patriotism - and the chance to brag to friends. ![]() One aspiring volunteer, Masanobu Ishii, said he wanted to convey the spirit of "omotenashi," which translates as showing Japanese hospitality. The 26-year-old said his employer is giving him five days of paid Olympic leave. "I'm willing to work for free if I can get a chance to see and talk to Olympians from all over the world in person," Yutaro Tokunaga, who attended a recent Tokyo orientation for volunteers, told the AP. Volunteers are lured by the powerful Olympic brand, the glamor of being behind the scenes, a sense of altruism and, for younger volunteers, a hope the work might lead to connections and a full-time job. Maxcy described a situation in which volunteers assemble the product but "someone else is collecting nearly all of the money derived from those labor efforts." "To me, it's very clearly economic exploitation," Joel Maxcy, the president of the International Association of Sports Economists and a professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia, told The Associated Press. Most don't seem to mind, thrilled about a once-in-a-lifetime chance and largely unaware that their unpaid labor enriches Olympic sponsors, powerful TV networks, and the Switzerland-based International Olympic Committee. Just over 200,000 have applied with orientation and interviews for Japan residents starting this month. That's the case at next year at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, where about 80,000 volunteers will be needed. The billion-dollar Olympics are awash with cash. IOC officials acknowledge the games couldn't be held without them invariably smiling, helpful and praised by presidents, prime ministers and monarchs.
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