Summary
Japan is trying to address a labor shortage by coaxing more people and companies to adopt four-day workweeks. About 8% of companies in Japan allow employees to take three or more days off per week. 7% give their workers the legally mandated one day off.
Only 150 employees have opted to take four-day schedules at one Panasonic company. The government’s official backing of a better work-life balance represents a marked change in Japan. Japan’S reputed culture of workaholic stoicism often got credited for the national recovery.
Some officials consider changing that mindset as crucial to maintaining a viable workforce. Proponents of the three-days-off model say it encourages people raising children, those caring for older relatives.
Gallup survey ranked Japan as having among the least engaged workers of all nationalities. Only 6% of the Japanese respondents described themselves as engaged at work compared to the global average of 23%.
“The view in Japan was: You are cool the more hours you work,” Ogino says. “But there is no dream in such a life.”
