Japan wants hard-working citizens to try 4-day work week | Wilnesh News

Japan, one nation so diligent Its language has a term that literally means working until death, in an attempt to solve the worrying labor shortage by convincing more people and companies to adopt this approach. four days work week.

this Japanese government For the first time, support for a shorter working week in 2021 has been expressed after lawmakers approved the idea. However, the concept has been slow to catch on. According to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, about 8% of Japanese companies allow employees to take three or more days off per week, while 7% provide employees with statutory rest days.

In order to cultivate more takers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, the government has launched a “working style reform” campaign, advocating shorter working hours and other flexible arrangements, Overtime limit and paid annual leave. As further motivation, the Department of Labor recently began offering free consultations, grants and a growing library of success stories.

“By realizing a society where workers can choose a variety of working methods according to their own circumstances, we aim to create a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution so that every worker has a better future.” The ministry’s website states ” hatarakikata Kaikaku” campaign, which means “innovating the way we work.”

The department overseeing the new business support service said only three companies had so far come forward with proposed changes, relevant regulations and available subsidies, illustrating the challenges facing the scheme.

Perhaps more tellingly: out of 63,000 Panasonic Holdings Corporation Yohei Mori, the person in charge of the program at a Panasonic company, said that while employees at the electronics maker and its Japanese group companies were eligible for the four-day workday, only 150 employees chose to participate.

The government’s official support for a better work-life balance represents a significant change in Japan, a country known for its workaholic stoic culture and often praised for its national recovery and glory. Economic Growth After World War II.

There is a lot of pressure on conformists to make sacrifices for the company. Citizens often take leave at the same time of year as their colleagues – during Obon in the summer and around New Year’s – so colleagues cannot accuse them of neglect or indifference.

Working long hours is the norm. Although 85% of employers reported giving employees two days off per week, and there are legal limits on overtime, these limits are negotiated with unions and detailed in contracts. But some Japanese will “overtime,” which means performing without reporting and without compensation.

recent government white paper About “death from overwork” The Japanese term means “death from overwork” in English, and there are at least 54 such deaths in Japan each year, including heart attacks.

Japanese people are “serious, conscientious, and diligent” and tend to value relationships with colleagues and connections with companies, Japanese TV shows, and companies. comics comics Tim Craig, author of “Cool Japan: Case Studies in Japan’s Cultural and Creative Industries,” says people often focus on the workplace.

“Work is important here. It’s not just a way to make money, although it’s also a way to make money,” said Craig, who taught at Doshisha Business School and founded the editing and translation company Blue Sky Academic Services.

Some officials believe changing that mindset is critical to maintaining a viable workforce in Japan’s economy. Birth rate plummets. At the current pace (due in part to the country’s employment-focused culture), the working-age population is expected to fall 40% to 45 million by 2065 from 74 million today, according to government data.

Supporters of the three-day leave model say it encourages people raising children, caring for elderly relatives, retirees relying on superannuation and others Seek flexibility or extra income to stay in the workforce longer.

Akiko Yokohama works at Spelldata, a small Tokyo-based technology company that allows employees to work four-day days, with Wednesdays and Saturdays and Sundays off. The extra day off allows her to get her hair done, attend other appointments or go shopping.

“When you’re not feeling well, it’s difficult to go five days in a row. The rest of the time allows you to recover or go to the doctor. Emotionally, it’s less stressful,” Yokohama said.

Her husband, a real estate agent, has Wednesdays off but works weekends, which is common in his industry. Yokohama said this allowed the couple to take their elementary school-age children on midweek family outings.

Fast Retailinga Japanese company owned by UniqloTheory, J Brand and other apparel brands and pharmaceutical companies Shionoki Co., Ltd.and electronics companies Ricoh Corporation and Hitachi In recent years, a four-day working week has also been introduced.

This trend is gaining traction even within the well-known consumer finance industry. Brokerage firm SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. started having employees work a four-day week in 2020.

Critics of the government push say people are, in effect, scheduled to work four days but often end up working just as hard for less money.

But there are signs of change.

An annual Gallup survey that measures employee engagement ranks Japan as one of the least engaged among all countries surveyed; in the most recent survey, only 6% of Japanese respondents said they were actively engaged at work, while The global average is 23%.

This means that relatively few Japanese workers are highly engaged in the workplace and passionate about their work, while the majority simply put in their hours without enthusiasm or energy.

Kanako Ogino, president of Tokyo-based NS Group, believes offering flexible working hours is necessary to fill job vacancies in the service industry, where women make up the majority of the workforce. The company, which operates karaoke venues and hotels, offers 30 different scheduling models, including a four-day work week but also long breaks between work.

To ensure that NS Group employees are not penalized for choosing alternative schedules, Ogino asks each of its 4,000 employees twice a year how they would like to work. In Japan, emphasizing personal needs may lead to rejection because Japan requires you to make sacrifices for the common good.

“The Japanese view is: the longer the working hours, the cooler it is to work overtime for free,” Ogino said with a smile. “But this life is without dreams.”