Japan wants its hardworking citizens to try a 4-day workweek
Ideas:
Globally, the trend seems to be moving toward a 4 day work week for better work life balance.For example, in South Korea, like Japan. the country has the longest working hours but the South Korean government is trying to get companies to move to a 4 day work week too.
Some might say the 4 day day work week started during the pandemic, but it started much earlier and companies were beginning to experiment with ways to improve work life balance without sacrificing productivity.
Japan, like South Korea, is a unique situation, as Japanese workers, some or many think the company is their family compared to the US or the EU, so they put in very long hours at the office.
That all sounds good but, many workers in Japan and many Japanese companies are still too traditional and not really tuned into 21st century ideas about work life balance.
Many Japanese workers might be concerned if they work only four days they might loose pay and or they might loose a chance for advancement in the company.
At the same time, maybe some companies might not pay for the extra day off and they would only pay for 4 days of work not the usual 5 days.
The 4 day work week sounds perfect or working women with children but they too are concerned they have a chance for advancement in the company if they choose the 4 days work week.
Panasonic is a good example of what workers think and feel, either they don't want to be seen as slackers, only working 4 day a week, and they want to miss a chance for advancement if only working 4 days.
Then there is still the ideas of the group concept in Japan, meaning if they only work 4 days a week and not 5 they are letting down the other workers in the company.
Its going to take a lot effort to change the mindset of the Japanese workers or the Japanese companies, as the loyalty to the company can sometimes be stronger than wanting a better work life balance.
What its going to take is the younger workers are going to have to drive the changes needed in the Japanese economy and Japanese culture, but as long as the senior member of a company have power there is nothing the younger workers can do, at this time.
The conformist mindset is very strong in Japan, so strong some workers are afraid to do anything that might upset the work atmosphere at the company.
A work life balance situation has not really taken hold in Japan as long hours are the normal for most companies and workers are afraid to cause as stir in the company.
Its very unfortunate that Japanese society puts so much pressure on whomever who doesn't conform to what someone thinks or says. w
While US is not perfect ii might better work life balance situations for workers compared to some countries, but of course the EU countries have the best work life balance situations.
Long hours might be the norm, but most likely young Japanese workers don't like the long hours or even the so-called service overtime in a company.
They might give their workers two days off, but its possible, some workers work six days week for the traditional Japanese companies.
Japan hasn't got up with the rest of the advanced globalized work world, as for example, 35 hours might be the norm in the EU with long summer vacations.
And its no coincidence that EU countries have the highest happiness index rates compared to Japan and South Korea, which are near the bottom in happiness rankings.
But Japan and South, or at least South Korea, don't rank happiness as being important in life, as the only thing that matters is status, success, and money.
So unfortunately, they might think being miserable is just a part of life and happiness has no place in moving up the ladder.
Work in important in every country is important and so is making money, but the Japanese take it to another level, with company group dynamics, as an important part of life.
Not to disparage the Japanese way of doing things, as its worked for them for a very long time, but how much longer can regular Japanese continue to have not so good work life experiences and not want something different in life.
Maybe the EU style of work or even the US style of work won't work that well in Japan, as the culture is much different and the company mindset is much different.
Its kind of like when a US baseball manager became the manager for a Japanese team and he tired to change the practice style of less practice time, but the Japanese went back to the field in the afternoon and practiced even more as they were used to all day practices.
What Japan can do is continue to employ workers past the normal retirement age as many some want to continue and need to continue to work. And as needed pay them lower than the normal wage compared to younger workers.
Japan needs to be more flexible and have many different ways for work instead of the standard Japan has used since after WW 2.
Japan needs a complete mindset change but its not going to change enough for some, as the old ways are going to remain, for a while at least.
Japan needs more companies like the one in the article that lets a worker have Wednesday off. That doesn't mean all companies have to do the same thing, but companies should have flexible schedules that can benefit many people in the company.
Not Japanese companies can be like EU companies or the Northern EU companies but they can find a way to provide better work life experiences with more days off as needed.
Perhaps, globally, the 5 days work week or even the 6 day work week are things of the past as workers/people are looking for better work life experiences without having to work 5 or 6 days straight.
So in Japan, some companies are being more progressive and embracing better work life experiences for their workers. But so far its not enough, as like, globally, people dread Monday and going back to work, and the 5 day work week or even the 6 day work week.
Not all workers and not all companies can do what Fast Retailing has done but companies can find better work life experiences for their workers that doesn't affect company productivity.
As some companies do what Fast Retailing has done ,workers will notice and want to work there, and other companies might start losing workers as they change to companies with better work life experiences, and then as companies begin to loose workers, as there is a so-called labor shortage in Japan, they might think they too need to change and give workers more flexibility in their working hours.
Unfortunately there are always going to be companies or industries where long hours are the norm, and even if a company offers a 4 day work schedule, workers will feel compelled to work the other days too.
Less pay if its for 4 days and workers don't get the same pay, many workers are not going to want that option. If the 4 day work schedule is the same pay as the 5 day work schedule, then workers will want to do it.
And in the global tech industry, where workers work 60+ hours a week, there probably are not too many companies offering 4 day work weeks.
First off engaged can be different things for different people, but yes its probably true that only 6% of Japanese workers actively engaged at work.
If only 6% that might be a sign that some Japanese workers don't like their work, and or are afraid to say or do anything and just keep their heads down and not cause problems, and or they wish they were someplace else than working for a specific company.
Even at 23% the number is very low, which means maybe a lot of people just don't care about their work, other than needing to make money to live.
The Tokyo-based NS Group might be on to something, but are other companies going to do the same thing or can they do the same thing, as some companies actually need workers there all 5 days or maybe even 6 days a week.
But yes, the service industry is the perfect place for a flexible work schedule, while other industry sectors might have a hard time implementing a more flexible schedule.
Back during the pandemic remote work became trendy and many companies began to experiment with remote work, now some or many companies have gone back to the office and not using remote work.
Remote work, a more flexible work schedule, might be the future of work as for example only 6% of Japan are engaged in their work and only 23% globally are engaged in their work that might be a clue that something needs to change but can companies change and provide a better work life experience for their workers.
Have a nice day!
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