Japan: 4 Day Work Week:

 Article Source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220503/p2g/00m/0na/022000c

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A growing list of Japanese companies have opened the door for employees to work four days a week, instead of five, offering them more flexibility so they can improve their work-life balance to meet responsibilities at home or acquire new skills outside of their workplace.

While companies can benefit from introducing the compressed work schedule as it can help attract more talent or prevent employees from leaving, it remains to be seen whether the relatively new workstyle will gain traction in Japan.

Panasonic Holdings Corp. became the latest company to embrace the four-day workweek, with the industrial conglomerate saying last month it will give some of its employees the option of taking a third day off during the current fiscal year through March.

Ideas:

A more flexible work schedule is long overdue in Japan that tends to not change as fast as the UE or the US in some things.

One area that might be a challenge for Japanese companies has been the retenion of women in the work force. A more flexible work schedule might be a beginning strategy to keep more women working after they get married.

But these days, whether good or bad, the marriage rate and the birthrate are both declining in many adanced economies globally.

And then there is the idea that many younger workers don't want the same work experience that the older generations had, such as long work hours, 5 or 6 days a week, maybe after work hours dinner meetings and so on.

Article:

Panasonic's announcement came after the Japanese government stated in its annual economic policy guideline last year that it encourages firms to offer an optional four-day workweek, as it can benefit workers for various purposes, such as child rearing, taking care of elderly family members and volunteering.

Panasonic, which will introduce the scheme on an experimental basis, joins other firms, including conglomerate Hitachi Ltd., Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Fast Retailing Co., the operator of the Uniqlo clothing chain, to accept the four-day workweek.

"It is our responsibility to ensure a work-life balance to our diverse workers," Panasonic President Yuki Kusumi told a press conference in January.

Ideas:

No doubt a better work-life balance is going to benefit society in many different ways. It can also benefit the economy in many different ways too such as now workers have more time for other kinds of activities that might include increasing consumer spending on many types of activities.

Of course it might be difficult for all comapanies to offer a 4 day work week or it might be difficult for some jobs or types jobs which might need a 5 day work week.

But its good if a company can give an option to employees who want it including the option to work from home and not just in the office.

And there might be some traditional Japanese companies that don't want to do it or even some companies that just can't find a way to do it.

Article:

Hiromi Murata, a senior researcher at Recruit Works Institute, said, "Companies see the four-day workweek as a way to hold onto skilled employees as it takes time to hire someone new and raise them to the same level."

"There are many skilled workers, including mothers with small children, who cannot work five days a week. So firms can improve their chances of hiring someone with good qualifications if they implement the four-day workweek," she added.

As of last year, 8.5 percent of companies were giving employees more days off than under a five-day workweek, according to a survey conducted on over 4,000 companies by the labor ministry.

Ideas:

More and more companies might begin to see a 4 day work week or the option of working from home as key strategies to keep talented workers and or as an incentive for new talented workers.

The pandemic, which of course was terrrible, might have been the stimulus to make changes in the work-life balance situation. Most likely changes were already beginning to happen but the pandemic might have accelerated the changes in society and the economy.

Time will tell just how many companies can or can't make the changes that might benefit many in society and the economy.

The EU seems to have already made many of the changes for a better work-life balance when many only working 35 hours a week along with of vacation time and days off.

Article:

Among companies that have accepted the optional four-day workweek, pharmaceutical firm Shionogi & Co. began allowing workers to take a third day off in April in the hope that they will acquire new skills or develop a network of contacts through additional education or working a second job.

As the Osaka-based drugmaker aims to expand its business to health care services using digital platforms, it saw the four-day workweek as an opportunity for employees to obtain knowhow in the digital field, the company's public relations official said.

"We want workers to meet new people and experience things that they cannot at this company, and thus make use of them in their jobs here," the official said.

Ideas:

Most likely not all employees are going to like the idea of a 4 day work week or even learning new skills and expanding their networks. 

So companies have to make sure they can provide enough incentives to ensure enough workers are willing to do it.

For example, maybe the improvement in English skills might be needed as maybe some workers in the company might need to communicate in English with overseas companies. 

But at the same time maybe not all employees need to do it. And some employees might need to improve their IT skills but not all employees.

But then their might be the risk as employees gain new skills they might then be able to move to other companies too.

Article:

Shionogi, which has applied to the health ministry for approval for its COVID-19 drug, will give employees on a four-day workweek about 80 percent of their regular salary. But the firm allows workers to take a second job.

Meanwhile, Hitachi said in April it will allow employees to organize their work schedule flexibly, allowing them to take a four-day workweek, as long as they meet the necessary work hours per month.

In the new labor system to be introduced at a later time, Hitachi employees will receive the same level of salary even if they take a third day off.

Ideas:

Some might not like the idea of a reduction of their salary to 80 percent of their regular salary. But allowing employees to work a second job might be good for some and not so good for others. 

As such some might want to stay at the regular 5 day work week and not have reduced salary or even work a second job.

But a flexible schedule as long as they work the required number of hours might be good for some too.

No scheme is going to benefit every worker in a company so some employees might want the regular 5 day work schedule and some might prefer a 4 day work schedule. while some might prefer working from home.

Article:

Panasonic said last month it will decide on the specifics about the salary of workers on a four-day workweek before its launch.

"Companies that have so far accepted the system in Japan have done so in a way that won't cause a burden" on their finance, said Takuya Hoshino, a senior economist at the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.

"The importance of meeting employees' hopes to work flexibly has increased as Japan's working population is expected to shrink in the future" due to the country's aging population, he said.

Ideas:

A very important factor is always salary. If the 4 day work schedule is going to reduce an employee's salary too much they are not going to do it.

One idea that is not talked about related Japan's ageing situation is keeping older workers in the workforce. These workers have a lot of skills already and as the population continues to shrink Japan can benefit by allowing these older workers to keep working

Maybe they will benefit from a reduce work schedule of 3 or 4 days a week at a reduced salary.

There might be many of want to or need to keep working. Companies should have the ability to accomodate these older workers with a very flexible schedule with a salary that might be 50 to 80 percent of a regular salary.

It becomes a win win situation for companies, older workers, society and the econmy.

Article:

However, there are still doubts whether the new workstyle will gain popularity in Japan, where many companies only began offering two days off per week in the late 1980s.

A survey by job information provider Mynavi Corp. released in February found that 78.5 percent of workers between in their 20s and 50s said they did not want to take three days off if their pay was cut.

Furthermore, 60.1 percent of the 800 respondents said it was impossible to introduce a four-day week at their workplace. Their reasons varied from being understaffed or the workload being too great.

Ideas:

So yes it might take some time before many companies actually can do a 4 day work week schedule.

Employees are already stressed with the salary they have and any reductions makes it even more challenging for them.

If a company is understaffed, that is a very good reason, if they can, to hire some older workers to work in the company. And again if the workload is too much another reason to hire some older workers to lesson the workload.

So no, not every company is going to do it or even want to do it. But the trend is there, its everywhere that some companies are willing to experiment with a 4 day work week.

Article:

While Murata of Recruit Works Institute said the disadvantages of the four-day workweek include the difficulty of managing work shifts and the lack of communication among workers, she said that large firms that will embrace the work schedule could set an example.

"Whether the four-day workweek brings benefits varies depending on the industry or type of jobs that workers have. Japanese companies could implement the idea on a trial basis and see whether it works for them," Murata said.

"More firms may follow if they learn the benefits from those that have already utilized it," she said.

Ideas:

Yes, as some companies begin to experiment with the 4 day work week, other companies can learn and follow the best-practices of what some companies have done.

They can see what works and what doesn't work, just like when the pandemic was raging and many companies were experimenting with working from home and telework. 

Some companies and some employees might have benefited from it and probably some companies and employees didn't,

So the same will happen with a 4 day work week scheme in the future.

Have a nice day and be safe!