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Japan, known for its hard-working culture, has launched an initiative to help its citizens cut back on their working hours, but three years on, it’s proving difficult to convince people to accept a four-day week.
Japanese lawmakers proposed shortening work hours for the first time in 2021. The guidelines were aimed at promoting employee retention and reducing the number of workers who become ill or die from overwork in an economy already suffering from a severe labor shortage. The guidelines also included caps on overtime work and paid annual leave.
But the initiative has gotten off to a slow start: Only about 8% of Japanese companies allow employees to take more than three days off a week, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Not only companies but employees are hesitant too.
Panasonic, Japan’s largest electronics maker, joined the initiative in early 2022. Two years on, only 150 of its 63,000 eligible employees have opted for the four-day shift, a company representative said at a press conference. Associated Press.
Other major companies that have introduced a four-day week include Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing, electronics giant Hitachi Ltd. and financial firm Mizuho Co. About 85% of employers report that they are still giving employees two days off a week as usual.
Much of the reluctance to take an extra day off stems from a work culture that puts the company before the self, including pressure to be seen as a team player and hard worker. This strong culture originated in post-war Japan, when then-Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, in an attempt to revitalize the economy, forced large companies to promise lifetime employment to employees and only reward them with loyalty.
Overwork and population decline
The reluctance to prioritize improved work-life balance is problematic for an economy struggling with declining birth rates and an aging population. It peaked in 2008In January 2023, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned that the country was on the verge of collapse due to a falling birth rate. Overwork leads to lower birth rates because it reduces opportunities for dating, marriage and childbirth.
China, the world’s fourth-largest economy, is expected to face a shortage of about 1 million workers by 2040, according to a study published in July by a state-run think tank.
Japan’s efforts are in line with those being undertaken by other countries. Reduce the number of working days. This concept is Gaining momentum This trend has accelerated in recent years as post-pandemic society grapples with a toxic relationship with work.
Singapore, which faces similar demographic challenges, announced in April that its workforce would soon be Reduction in working hours Flexible working hours: Iceland, Ireland, the UK and Spain are experimenting with a four-day work week.
Outside 61 UK companies Fifty-four companies took part in a six-month trial to introduce a four-day working week in 2022, 54 continued the reduced working week a year later and 31 will continue with it permanently.
But Greece took the opposite approach, introducing a six-day week in certain industries in June to combat population decline and falling productivity.