FOUR-DAY WEEK TRIAL A HIT FOR MICROSOFT IN JAPAN
▶ Productivity rose by 40 per cent, said the software and cloud giant
Microsoft Japan said productivity surged 40 per cent during a month-long experiment in which full-time employees worked a four-day week.
The tech company’s WorkLife Choice Challenge Summer 2019 initiative saw offices closed for five consecutive Fridays in August with staff still paid full salaries. Meetings were shortened to 30 minutes and employees were encouraged to communicate online rather than face to face.
The study was carried out “to help corporate customers reform work styles”, Microsoft Japan said.
The summer experiment was given a favourable response by 92 per cent of the Microsoft staff surveyed after the event.
Sales per employee increased, staff sentiment improved and costs were reduced, with electricity consumption falling 23 per cent and paper printing dropping 59 per cent compared with August 2018, Microsoft said.
Global studies into working hours suggest the longer your working day, the greater the risk of health problems such as depression and heart failure to premature death.
A June study carried out in France by Angers University and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research found people working long hours had a 29 per cent greater risk of a stroke. The study examined data on age, smoking and working hours of more than 143,000 adults and found under a third worked long hours, with 10 per cent putting in long hours for a decade or more.
Meanwhile, employees working 40 to 55 hours per week have a higher risk of a stroke compared with those working standard hours of 35 to 40 hours, according to a 2015 study of 60,000 people published in the British medial journal The Lancet.
Overworking has been well documented in Japan, where “karoshi” means death from overwork. A 2016 white paper published by Japan’s government found that one in five Japanese workers were at risk of death from overwork. In April, the state’s new work reform law came into effect, limiting overtime to 45 hours per month.
Despite the positive results of the Microsoft Japan study, the tech company said it was planning to run a second Work Life Choice Challenge this winter but would not be offering the same “special leave”. Instead, staff are encouraged to “rest smartly”, do their work in a shorter amount of time and take advantage of shorter, halfhour meetings.
“An internal contest will be held to recruit ideas for how to work, rest and learn this winter,” the company said.
When it comes to countries working the longest hours, Japan is not the worst offender. Mexicans work longer than people in any other country, according to 2019 data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, clocking up an average 2,148 hours at work per year per employee. In Japan the average worker does 1,680 hours per year – below the OECD average of 1,734.
The company also reduced its costs, with electricity consumption falling 23% and paper printing dropping 59%