Japanese firms limit remote work despite employee demand
TOKYO, JAPAN — Following the government’s decision to downgrade COVID-19’s risk in May, Japanese companies are cutting back on remote working or teleworking despite clear employee preferences for it.
According to a study by think tank Persol Research and Consulting Co., only 22.2% of workers are now using telework, the lowest percentage since the pandemic’s onset.
In April 2020, during Japan’s initial COVID-19 state of emergency, 27.9% were teleworking, with numbers rising to 28.5% by February 2022.
This recent decrease contrasts with the findings that 81.9% of teleworkers want to continue working remotely.
Japan’s initial move to telework was a government response to control the virus spread. But as the government likened COVID-19 to the seasonal flu, workers began returning to offices.
“The trend of having workers move away from working remotely is more apparent among companies that saw telework as a temporary measure to prevent coronavirus infection at the workplace rather than work-style reform,” said Yuji Kobayashi, a researcher at Persol Research and Consulting.
He added that considering workers’ demand for telework, “what is needed now is offering a flexible work style, not returning completely to in-office work.”
