Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was yesterday to spend the afternoon meditating while staff at some of the country’s biggest firms also quit work early — in time for a bit of shopping or maybe a boozy train ride.
Welcome to Premium Friday, Japan’s latest bid to tackle two perennial problems — sluggish consumer spending and notoriously long working hours blamed for a national health crisis known as karoshi, or death from overwork.
The work-life balance campaign, which launches this week, calls on employers to let staff off at about 3pm on the last Friday of every month.
Photo: AP
Warning: Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health
Major firms, such as automakers Nissan Motor Co and Toyota Motor Corp, beverage giant Suntory Holdings Co and brokerage Nomura Holdings Inc, are taking part in the government-backed scheme.
Thousands of other firms are offering promotions to workers who will have a bit of extra time on Fridays.
Mobile carrier Softbank Group Corp is letting staff quit early and, later this year, will be putting an extra ¥10,000 (US$88.77) in their pockets.
One railway operator is offering a special train ride with beer and lunch boxes, while off-early workers can also get discounts on everything from matchmaking services to cancer checks.
Abe was scheduled to take it down a notch by spending the afternoon at a Zen meditation temple, followed by a music concert, said Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who was also kicking off early — as soon as yesterday’s news briefing was done.
“Unfortunately, I have to hold this press conference at your request,” he told reporters in Tokyo. “But as soon as I’m done with this, I’m going to doing something” for Premium Friday.
Every year, Japan’s notoriously long working hours are blamed for hundreds of deaths due to strokes, heart attacks and suicides, along with a host of serious health problems.
The issue was highlighted again in late December last year, when the head of Japan’s biggest advertising agency, Dentsu Inc, resigned in response to the suicide of a young employee who regularly logged more than 100 hours of overtime each month.
More than one in five Japanese companies have employees who work such long hours they are at serious risk of death, according to a government survey released in October last year.
Japan’s long working hours spawned the image of the weary salaryman who worked all day, drank with the boss all night and was back at his desk early in the morning.
That punishing work culture has softened over the decades, but putting in long hours is still seen as a sign of dedication at many Japanese firms.
“We’re hoping to boost spending by changing our lifestyle, the way we work and the way we think,” said Masanao Ueda, director of the Industrial Policy Bureau at major business lobby Japan Business Federation. “It’s hard for Japanese workers to take a day off, so we need to create conditions in which everyone can take a holiday.”
However, it could be hard sell. Many Japanese employees do not even take all of their regular annual leave and firms are not helping with the needed wage hikes.
And only a small fraction of Japan’s firms are taking part in the nonmandatory scheme.
“This campaign will not suddenly boost spending or stop long working hours,” Tokyo-based NLI Research Institute analyst Naoko Kuga said. “It’s not even mandatory for workers to leave early.”
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