Notorious for a hardworking culture, Japan launched an initiative to help people cut back. But three years into the effort, the country is having a hard time coaxing people to take a four-day workweek.
Japanese lawmakers first proposed a shorter work week in 2021. The guidelines aimed to encourage staff retention and cut the number of workers falling ill or dying from overwork in an economy already suffering from a huge labor shortage. The guidelines also included overtime limits and paid annual leave.
However, the initiative has had a slow start: According to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, only about 8% of companies in Japan allow employees to take three or more days off a week.
It’s not just companies — employees are hesitant, too.
Electronics manufacturer Panasonic, one of Japan’s largest companies, opted into the effort in early 2022. Over two years in, only 150 of its 63,000 eligible employees have chosen to take up four-day schedules, a representative of the company told the Associated Press.
Other major companies to introduce a four-day workweek include Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing, electronics giant Hitachi, and financial firm Mizuho. About 85% of employers report giving workers the usual two days off a week.
Much of the reluctance to take an extra day off boils down to a culture of workers putting companies before themselves, including pressure to appear like team players and hard workers. This intense culture stems from Japan’s postwar era, where, in an effort to boost the economy, then-Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida enlisted major corporations to offer their employees lifelong job security, asking only that workers repay them with loyalty.
Overwork and population decline
The hesitancy to prioritize better work-life balance is troubling for an economy grappling with low birth rates and an aging population, which peaked in 2008. In January 2023, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned that the country was on the brink of collapse because of its falling birth rate. Overworking is tied to lower birth rates because it decreases the chances of dating, marrying, and having children.
According to a July study by a state-backed think tank, the fourth-largest economy is expected to face a shortage of almost one million workers by 2040.
Japan’s efforts are in line with initiatives other countries are taking to reduce the number of working days. The concept has gained momentum in recent years, spurred on by a post-pandemic society grappling with its toxic relationship with work.
In April, Singapore, which faces a similar population issue, announced that employees will soon be able to request shorter workweeks and flexible hours. Iceland, Ireland, UK, and Spain have experimented with four-day workweeks.
Out of 61 UK companies that took part in a six-month trial for a four-day workweek in 2022, 54 continued the shortened week a year later, and 31 said they would do so permanently.
Greece, however, took the opposite approach to combat shrinking populations and low productivity, by introducing a six-day workweek for select industries in June.
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