Panasonic To Offer Four-Day Workweek in Japan (gizmodo.com) 29
Panasonic has announced plans to offer a four-day workweek to employees in Japan in an effort to improve productivity and attract better workers, according to a new report from Nikkei Asia. From a report: The move comes after the Japanese government made official recommendations to private employers in 2021 that included a shorter workweek. The four-day workweek has been floated around the world in various forms from Finland to New Zealand. Sometimes, the shorter weeks just mean that employers make the four days of work longer, while maintaining something close to 40 hours. Other times the companies will actually be offering a shorter week with fewer total hours, so that people can pursue more leisure time or more education.
It's not 3 1/2 days but it's a start (Score:1)
I'm still waiting [imdb.com] for my flying car and humanoid robot housecleaner though.
an japan 4 day is 40 hours? Down from 50-60+ (Score:1)
an japan 4 day is 40 hours? Down from 50-60+ for 5?
Re: an japan 4 day is 40 hours? Down from 50-60+ (Score:2)
4x10 (Score:2)
I got a job a few years ago that allows me to work 4x10 and I can't imagine having to go back to 5x8.
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Shift workers which tried it supposedly also prefer 4x12, 4 days off.
Re:4x10 (Score:4, Funny)
Extrapolating the trend, 2x20 is even better.
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You can't space the shifts that way unless you put 20 hours in the middle.
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And extrapolating some more, 1x40 would be perfection.
Probably won't work in America. (Score:2)
Despite all the research of this being more efficient and effective use of ones time and money. I can't see this working in America.
1. Americans for the most part define themselves on what they do for work. If you were to ask a random person some info about them, they will often state what they do for work first. While other cultures may have them talking about their position in their families, or their religion, or about their local area.
2. Still has a puritan values ingrained in our culture. Oh you are
Re:Probably won't work in America. (Score:4, Funny)
In America, 4x10 instead of 5x8 means I have an extra day to work my second job.
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1. You can still identify with your job just as much if you work 4 days per week as opposed to 5.
2. I don't see how having a 3 day weekend is much different than a 2 day weekend here. Nursing is a profession where 10 & 12 hour shifts are common, and I don't think it is common for people to think nurses are lazy.
3. 4x10 is the same number of hours as 5x8. But I would agree many US managers would struggle with the concept of not all employees being available 9-5 M-F.
4. These people would already be workin
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Well, I'm not sure about your 4th. point there? I think if the standard is made a 4 day work week, people won't be in any hurry to show up on a day they're supposed to be off. I mean, lots of places already do non-traditional work weeks, especially in 24/7 operations like factories or hospital setting. Those people don't tend to get worried that they're not there on Monday or Tuesday, if they had longer Wed-Fri workdays and maybe part time on the weekend.
I'd agree with much of the rest of what you said. Bu
Re: Probably won't work in America. (Score:2)
Do you have any objective evidence that point 1 is true, that people from other cultures do not talk about what they do for work when asked for info about them? Because my anecdotal experience is that all cultures are similar in that regard. In fact I notice religion is mentioned last, if at all and usually only if queried. Number 5 too is also strongly false by my experience. My guess is 2, 3, and 4 are probably BS assertions too. I mean, it largely depends on the job or profession. Certain cultures have b
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I'd have thought employee guilt would be an issue in Japan. Employees sometimes don't take their holiday days because they are worried about colleagues and the company. When Gossen came in at Nissan, mandatory use of holiday was one of the reforms he brought in.
TFA and the original Nikkei article don't say if Panasonic will want 40 hours or if they are reducing to 32.
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Probably. Which is kind of stuck in the past though.
Again (Score:3)
Back in the mid-eighties, I worked for an NGO that had me salaried, and the normal work week was 37.5 hours (it assumed half an hour for lunch each day - most of us took an hour).
But that was during the beginning of the total war on unions. Ten years later, I was working for a Baby Bell, and my "normal" weekday was 45-50 hours, plus pages. Plus a *lot* of pages. And then there were the 55 and 60+ hour weeks.
But we don't need unions....
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Bullshit. "Get rid of them" is, technically speaking, "illegal", since they're breaking contracts.
Then tell me how overwhelmingly, most companies don't take advantage of the employees, underpaying them, and overworking them.
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Unions are uncommon in Japan, but bosses are expected to look after employees. Obviously it's open to abuse, so called "black companies" that exploit workers.
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Four day work week ... in Japan (Score:2)
It won't work unless it's mandatory. (Score:2)
Japan has weird cultural issues when it comes to work. One of them is not leaving before your boss leaves. If they don't know the boss isn't coming in then it's likely they will go to work.
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Might work, but might not be easier (Score:2)
- Can always go from one hour lunches to 15 minutes gobbling a sandwich in front of a monitor, that's 3 hours of extra work
- Can stop socializing with coworkers as human beings or taking time to help rather than telling them to RTFM
- Can give up gym and kids activities that fall inside work time
But do you really want to, in order to gain one more day per week with no set routine? There is a pandemic going on, many don't have mindblowing social lives. And then there are less productive people who currently c