Pandemic puts Japan’s work mode on notice

TOKYO • Picture the traditional grind of the Japanese salaryman: the corporate warrior in suit and tie, commuting to the office in a packed subway train, working long hours then drinking with his boss and coming home to a cramped Tokyo apartment.

Then imagine another type of worker, cycling to her office on a picturesque island, with an equally challenging career but spending her weekends by the sea, immersed in nature or relaxing in a hot spring.

That ’ s the vision of Yasuyuki Nambu, CEO of staffing company Pasona, who aims to move its headquarters from Tokyo, population 37 million, to the island of Awaji, population 129,000.

It’s a revolutionary idea in Japan’s rigid corporate culture — and a sign of how the pandemic is reimagining how people work.

Working from home was almost unthinkable, but appears to be gathering momentum. Some innovators, such as Nambu, are looking to shift offices to less stressful locales to introduce a novel concept in Japan: work-life balance.

“Now, with the current pandemic, it’s almost required,” he said. “It’s a societal change that has been brought upon us.”

But a July survey of 14,300 companies by Tokyo Shoko Research found that 42 per cent had never implemented working from home. About 31 per cent of workers in the surveyed companies worked from home in July.

“We have these corporate warriors who sacrifice their lifestyles, not even eating dinner at home,” Nambu said.

His planned move has other motives. He wants to revitalize Japan’s dying regions hollowed out by a declining population, rapid aging and the pull of Tokyo.

A government survey run from January through March showed nearly half of central Tokyo residents were “interested” in moving, although only two per cent were actually planning a move in the next year.

The idea isn’t new. Japan’s government has long set regional revitalization as a priority, and it’s an idea favoured by new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Yet it hasn’t reversed what seems like an inexorable trend.

In 1950, 53 per cent of Japan’s population lived in urban areas, but by 2018, around 92 per cent did. As Japan’s population shrinks, the rural population is expected to fall 46 per cent by 2050, the UN estimates.

Rochelle Kopp, a management consultant based in Fukuoka, said widespread corporate moves in Japan are not likely. “Probably a lot of companies are going to let employees go into the office one or two days a week.”

The government, meanwhile, has pushed the idea of “workation” — working remotely from vacation resorts.

“These are the kind of things people are starting to daydream about, ideas that wouldn’t have been crossing anyone’s minds a year ago,” Kopp said.