Companies are increasingly adopting measures such as shortened work hours to help employees achieve a better work-life balance.
With the working population expected to decline, it has become urgent to create an environment where women can combine work with child-rearing. Companies are also trying to improve productivity, which is said to be lower than in the United States and Europe.
One area receiving attention is telework, which allows people to work from home via computers and other equipment.
Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. is set to allow about 2,000 employees, or more than 60 percent of its head office staff, to telework in fiscal 2016. Asahi Group introduced a telecommuting system for all its employees from February, and allows the creation of documents and other materials outside of the workplace.
To prevent overwork, many firms have begun to focus on employees' free time. This month, KDDI Corp. started a system that requires employees to have an interval of at least 11 hours between finishing work and returning to the workplace.
From June, Ajinomoto Co. is recommending a morning shift and opening its cafeteria from early morning to offer employees freshly baked bread. The aim is to get employees to make more meaningful use of their time after they leave work.
It is urgent to create an environment where employees who have child-rearing or nursing care commitments can continue working, an opinion echoed by people in the business community who say improved working conditions will lead to greater productivity.
In a survey by the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) in January, 83.5 percent of major corporations said they were incorporating work-life balance measures as part of their management strategy.
However, the survey also found that many of these measures were still rudimentary, such as mental health measures. Only 14.7 percent of companies allowed telework, for which there is especially strong demand from women who are raising children.
Against this backdrop, the government allocated a budget of about 2.7 trillion yen (about $217,63,674,000) for fiscal 2015 and has been pushing for the introduction of telework and the establishment of nurseries.
Early this month, about 140 companies promoted teleworking and other measures at a Tokyo exhibition aimed at companies and local governments.
The Washington Post
Mon Jul 20 2015
Companies in Japan are increasingly adopting measures such as shortened work hours to help employees achieve a better work-life balance.
10 Berita Pilihan - (26 Jun 2022)
Antara pelbagai berita dalam dan luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut antara berita paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Ahad, 26 Jun 2022.
Polis rampas 9,208.81 gram dadah ,504 individu ditahan
PDRM mengambil maklum terhadap pendedahan oleh Pertubuhan Keprihatinan Jenayah Komuniti Malaysia mengenai senarai 15 pusat hiburan didakwa menjadi pusat pengedaran dadah di ibu negara.
Dadah | Myanmar hapuskan dadah bernilai AS$642 juta
Pihak berkuasa Myanmar memusnahkan dadah bernilai lebih setengah bilion dolar di seluruh negara pada Ahad. Pembakaran secara besar-besaran termasuk dadah jenis candu, heroin dan methamphetamine itu menjadi acara tahunan di Myanmar ketika menyambut Hari Dadah Antarabangsa pada 26 Jun.
Kapal Perang AS | Sammy B, kapal karam paling dalam di dunia pernah ditemukan
Sebuah kapal pemusnah tentera laut Amerika Syarikat (AS) yang pernah bertempur dengan tentera Jepun dalam Perang Dunia II ditemukan di dasar laut Filipina pada kedalaman hampir 7,000 meter. Ia sekali gus menjadikan aset yang dikenali sebagai Sammy B itu sebagai kapal karam yang paling dalam di dunia pernah ditemukan.
Krisis Ekonomi | Sri Lanka cuba dapatkan minyak murah dari Rusia, Qatar
Sri Lanka yang berdepan krisis ekonomi teruk umum akan menghantar menterinya ke Rusia dan Qatar sebagai cubaan untuk dapatkan harga minyak murah, sehari selepas kehabisan bahan api di negara itu. Menteri Tenaga, Kanchana Wijesekera berkata dua menteri akan dihantar ke Rusia pada Isnin, untuk berbincang bagi mendapatkan lebih banyak bekalan minyak.
Azurin wira Malayan Tigress ikat Bangladesh
Pasukan bola sepak wanita kebangsaan gagal melunaskan dendam kekalahan memalukan kepada Bangladesh, selepas terikat tanpa jaringan pada perlawanan persahabatan antarabangsa Tier 1 di Dhaka, malam ini.
Krisis Rusia-Ukraine | Selepas tawan Severodonetsk, Rusia sasar Kyiv
Sehari selepas Rusia mendakwa mengawal sepenuhnya bandar strategik Severodonetsk di Luhansk, serangan peluru berpandu mula menggegarkan bandar Kyiv pada Ahad. Wartawan AFP melaporkan, kompleks kediaman berhampiran pusat Kyiv telah diserang sehingga mengakibatkan kebakaran dan dipenuhi asap.
PRU15 | Tanding di Parlimen Sik hanya ura-ura - Takiyuddin
Setiausaha Agung Pas, DatuK Seri Takiyuddin Hassan menyifatkan dakwaan beliau bakal bertanding di kerusi Parlimen Sik hanyalah ura-ura sahaja.
Industri Kreatif | Dana Pembangunan Modal Insan FINAS kembali
Perbadanan Filem Nasional (FINAS) akan membuka kembali Dana Pembangunan Modal Insan bagi tujuan memperkasa kemahiran penggiat industri filem di negara ini, kata Ketua Pegawai Eksekutifnya, Prof Dr Md Nasir Ibrahim. Menurutnya, setakat ini kurang daripada 50 peratus daripada dana itu telah dilulus oleh jawatankuasa penilai dan FINAS menggalakkan persatuan serta syarikat berminat mengemukakan permohonan.
Permintaan minyak sawit dijangka meningkat bulan depan di Pakistan
Februari akan menjadi bulan utama perbelanjaan sebagai persediaan untuk bulan Ramadhan pada bulan April.
Naza Italia yakin jualan tinggi mulai 2015
Naza Italia Sdn Bhd yakin dapat mencapai jualan tahunan sejumlah 200 hingga 300 kereta mewah Maserati mulai 2015.