This is not the first time that we have talked about a four-day week and reduced working hours. In different countries of the world, between promises, intentions and denials, the question is increasingly present not only in public opinion, but also among governments and obviously among workers.
Even in Japan, a country where the reality of work is often made up of pressing and stressful situations, which often lead employees to psychological and personal problems, working less is increasingly becoming a necessity to be urgently considered. So much so that the Japanese government itself is intervening decisively in this direction.
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The principle is very simple: working fewer hours and fewer days should not be an excuse to do less. On the contrary, it is a strategy that can guarantee greater productivity. It is on this point that the voices expressed in favor of such measures are based, which obviously also take into account the balance between private and professional life . Two spheres, especially in a country like Japan, are too often unbalanced in favor of the second.
Four days of work per week, this is, therefore, the recommendation that the executive of the Land of the Rising Sun makes to many companies so that they allow their employees to opt for this distribution of time.
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Long weekends and attention to the private and personal needs of workers. Concepts which, for Japan, may seem rather unusual, since, as we have said, the culture of this country has always been centered on an exemplary, almost total dedication to the professional sphere.
With these new intentions, the Japanese government also aims to counter the sharp drop in the birth rate , precisely because the short work week would allow more people to devote themselves to family and all that pertains to the private sphere. Not to mention that an extra day of free time could help the economy, with more people free to go out and therefore spend. It now remains to be seen whether companies will decide to follow the executive’s directives. We certainly hope so for Japanese workers, and not only.
source used: DW.com