Japan pushes for four-day workweek

Work-life balance: The recommendation for an optional shorter workweek is detailed in the country's annual economic policy guidelines finalized by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's Cabinet on Friday, Japan Times reported.

• While the initiative has long been proposed, it gained traction due to the COVID-19 pandemic so people could spend more time at home.
• The changes are reportedly meant to give employees more time for their family, education, and social life.
• People with family-care responsibilities will no longer need to quit their jobs, while those who want to study more or get extra work on the side can finally do so.
• A shorter workweek will also reportedly address the challenges caused by the country's labor shortage.

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Experts are divided, however, on whether the new initiative, intended to address challenges posed by the country's labor shortage, will be widely accepted, with labor and management both voicing concerns about possible unwanted outcomes. For employers, while people working four days a week may become more motivated, this may not improve their productivity enough to compensate for the lost workday. Employees, meanwhile, fear pay cuts.

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Productivity remained the same or improved in the majority of workplaces, researchers said. [...] The trials led unions to renegotiate working patterns, and now 86% of Iceland's workforce have either moved to shorter hours for the same pay or will gain the right to, the researchers said. Workers reported feeling less stressed and at risk of burnout and said their health and work-life balance had improved. They also reported having more time to spend with their families, do hobbies and complete household chores. Will Stronge, director of research at Autonomy, said: "This study shows that the world's largest-ever trial of a shorter working week in the public sector was by all measures an overwhelming success. "It shows that the public sector is ripe for being a pioneer of shorter working weeks - and lessons can be learned for other governments."

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The change, triggered partly by a growing labor shortage brought on by a rapidly aging population and dwindling birthrates as well as changing lifestyles and expectations, has the potential to rewrite the country's work landscape. For one, it would widen the gap in days off between large and small companies. [...]Hitachi said it does not plan to reduce the salaries of those choosing the four-day option, but will ask them to make up the difference in work hours over a five-day week by working longer when they are in the office. [...] In the past, employees often chose to quit to care for elderly relatives or children. Allowing workers to choose four-day workweeks would give them more time to attend to the domestic front and allow them to retain their jobs in the company.

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The department overseeing the new support services for businesses says only three companies have come forward to request advice on making changes, relevant regulations and available subsidies, illustrating the challenges the initiative faces. Perhaps more telling: of the 63,000 Panasonic Holdings Corp. employees who are eligible for four-day schedules at the electronics maker and its group companies in Japan, only 150 employees have opted to take them, according to Yohei Mori, who oversees the initiative at one Panasonic company.

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Akiko Yokohama, who works at Spelldata, a small Tokyo-based technology company that allows employees to work a four-day schedule, takes Wednesdays off along with Saturdays and Sundays. The extra day off will enable her to get her hair done, attend other appointments or go shopping. "It's hard to keep going for five days when you aren't feeling well. The rest allows you to recover or go see the doctor. Emotionally, it's less stressful," Yokohama said. Her real estate broker's husband also gets Wednesdays off but works weekends, which is common in his industry. Yokohama said it allows the couple to go on midweek family outings with their elementary-school-age child. Fast Retailing Co., the Japanese company that owns Uniqlo, Theory, J Brand and other clothing brands, pharmaceutical company Shionogi & Co., and electronics companies Ricoh Co. and Hitachi also began offering a four-day workweek in recent years.

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