Firms in Japan look for ways to balance their working hours
TOKYO: More companies are reviewing the practice of working long hours while emphasising improved working efficiency, with some adopting new systems for time off or utilising artificial intelligence.
To implement “work style reforms” promoted by the government, and also to address worsening labor shortages, such companies have introduced various measures that are contributing to changes in Japan’s employment environment.
Rice milling and agricultural machinery manufacturer Satake Corp. in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, introduced a four-day workweek on a trial basis in July. In addition to Saturdays and Sundays, workers also took Mondays off.
The system applied to all of the company’s roughly 1,000 employees. As the Monday holidays were considered paid leave, employees’ salaries were not affected.
Satake employee Yumiko Ide, 33, visited Yokohama with her mother during one three-day weekend. “(As my days off) didn’t coincide with peak summer holiday season, the town was not crowded,” she said.
Another employee, Yuki Murakami, 26, said the reduced working hours allowed him to better concentrate on his job.
On one Monday in July, however, about 20 percent of employees did come to work as they had to clean up after an exhibition held that weekend.
The firm’s sales department had staff at the office to take phone calls while the construction and distribution departments also had to deal with clients.
“It was difficult for all of the employees to be off at the same time,” Director Hirofumi Kidani said after the trial.
Nevertheless, Satake will continue experimenting with a four-day workweek. It plans on studying other approaches, such as applying the system to half of employees or changing the extra holiday to a different weekday.
Like many regional companies, Satake has trouble recruiting high-quality staff compared to big city firms. The company considers a four-day workweek a point of attraction for students looking for a job.
According to Recruit Carrier Co.’s 2017 employment survey, 7.4 per cent of students who have yet to begin job-hunting prioritised work hours and holidays while 6.1 per cent prioritised wages.
The introduction of a four-day workweek is notable as many industries struggle with severe labour shortages.
This trend reflects such industries’ determination to increase the number of applicants or reduce staff turnover, even if only by a little.
Uchiyama Holdings Co., which operates nursing care facilities nationwide, introduced a four-day workweek in 2015. Employees typically work eight hours a day, five days a week. However, the company also allows its employees to work 10 hours a day, four days a week.
Total working hours per week are the same in both systems, as is pay. At its Kitakyushu facilities, eight of 40 staffers work four days a week.
The firm needed to increase hiring for its nursing care department to maintain the work rotation at its facilities. “We wanted to create an environment where staff can be with us for a long time,” said Tetsuo Kawakami, the firm’s head of human resources. Sagawa Express Co. also introduced an option for a fourday workweek last spring. The system applies to regularly employed drivers in Tokyo and Yamanashi Prefecture. They can indicate their preference when they begin work at the company. —WP-Bloomberg
It was difficult for all of the employees to be off at the same time Director Hirofumi Kidani