It was freely cited in administrative circles, often to explain an abundance of free time, or the concept of stretch targets, which referred back then to tasks being stretched as far as they could be. Once work began to get market oriented, incentive structures started pushing workers the other way: to work fast.
Productivity was the buzz, at least in the private sector, and this meant getting more out of less—not just money, muscle and minds, but also time, now recast as money. Software tools leapt to the aid of task-doers, and as we went up the more-from-less curve, we found work was indeed rather elastic, as C. Northcote Parkinson had implied.
It could stretch and contract both. Oddly, however, it offered very little relief to toilers in the form of a better work-life balance. If the workload of five days could be accomplished in four, shouldn’t the work week have shortened accordingly?
Decision-makers in Japan seem more receptive to that thought than top bosses in other countries. This week, the administration of Tokyo said that from April next year, it would give its staff the option of a four-day work week, with a full three days off.
“We will review work styles,” said the city’s governor Yuriko Koike, “with flexibility, ensuring no one has to give up their career due to life events such as childbirth or child care.” Tokyo has a far-sighted public motive. Not only does the participation of women in Japan’s workforce lag that of other developed economies, the country’s low fertility rate—at 1.2 children per woman—and ageing society have spelt a shrinking population.
Without sufficient immigrants to help it achieve demographic stability, this makes it harder to expand its economy. More family time for the Japanese workforce, goes the reasoning, would encourage people to start families and have more kids.
Given a choice, most folks would jump to grab a four-day work week, whose popularity has been confirmed by several surveys. A better balance of work and life is found to relieve stress, raise job satisfaction and rouse happiness. No surprise there. As the elasticity of work would suggest, governance needn’t suffer.
Government work could simply contract to cover four days instead of five—and do the nation a good turn while at it. But what about the private sector? Surely, business employees are less given to dilatory tactics. Well, a few corporate employers have conducted trial runs of a shorter work week.
In 2019, Microsoft’s Japan operations reported a 40% gain in productivity by trying out a three-day weekly break. Why the US software major did not institute or globalize it as a policy, though, remains a puzzle.
Decision-makers in Japan seem more receptive to that thought than top bosses in other countries. This week, the administration of Tokyo said that from April next year, it would give its staff the option of a four-day work week, with a full three days off.
“We will review work styles,” said the city’s governor Yuriko Koike, “with flexibility, ensuring no one has to give up their career due to life events such as childbirth or child care.” Tokyo has a far-sighted public motive. Not only does the participation of women in Japan’s workforce lag that of other developed economies, the country’s low fertility rate—at 1.2 children per woman—and ageing society have spelt a shrinking population.
Without sufficient immigrants to help it achieve demographic stability, this makes it harder to expand its economy. More family time for the Japanese workforce, goes the reasoning, would encourage people to start families and have more kids. Given a choice, most folks would jump to grab a four-day work week, whose popularity has been confirmed by several surveys.
A better balance of work and life is found to relieve stress, raise job satisfaction and rouse happiness. No surprise there. As the elasticity of work would suggest, governance needn’t suffer. Government work could simply contract to cover four days instead of five—and do the nation a good turn while at it. But what about the private sector?
Surely, business employees are less given to dilatory tactics. Well, a few corporate employers have conducted trial runs of a shorter work week. In 2019, Microsoft’s Japan operations reported a 40% gain in productivity by trying out a three-day weekly break. Why the US software major did not institute or globalize it as a policy, though, remains a puzzle.
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