Japan's Panasonic offers staff four day work week

Fri, 27 May 2022

Japan's Panasonic offers staff four day work week

Robert Besser
13 Jan 2022, 22:50 GMT+10

Panasonic said it will offer its Japanese workers a four-day work week, in a bid to improve productivity and attract better workers
The move comes after the Japanese government made recommendations to private employers in 2021, which included a shorter working week
Despite having a reputation in the U.S. as a workaholic culture, Japanese workers actually work fewer hours than American workers

TOKYO, Japan: Panasonic said it will offer its Japanese workers a four-day work week, in a bid to improve productivity and attract better workers.

The move comes after the Japanese government made recommendations to private employers in 2021, which included a shorter working week.

Companies that have sought to put in place a shorter work week have found no loss of productivity, in general, said officials.

Despite having a reputation in the U.S. as a workaholic culture, Japanese workers actually work fewer hours than American workers, according to the most recent data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Among the OECD, the U.S. ranked 11th for most hours worked by the average worker, while Japan ranked 26th.

Americans have been promised a shorter work week for generations, and economic experts in the 1960s predicted that robots would perform the majority of work and Americans would be working only 16 hours per week.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Asia Pacific Star.

More Information

28 ℃

Mostly Cloudy in Seletar

Asia

Section

In Tokyo, Biden supports Japan seeking seat on Security Council

TOKYO, Japan: U.S. President Joe Biden said this week that he supports calls for Japan to become a permanent member ...

Indonesia criticizes UK raising rainbow flag at embassy

JAKARTA, Indonesia: Indonesia, this week, summoned the UK's ambassador to explain the raising of a gay rights flag at the ...

Mandalay medical student traveling with family shot dead by military

SAGAING, Myanmar - According to a source close to the victim's family, regime forces shot and killed a third-year medical ...

More lockdowns in Shanghai for mandatory Covid testing

SHANGHAI, China: The central Shanghai district of Jingan, a key commercial area in China's financial hub, has announced that it ...

US seeks stronger high tech ties to Taiwan

WASHINGTON D.C.: A leading U.S. official has said that even if Taiwan is excluded from President Joe Biden's Asian economic ...

US, Japan, Australia, India join to limit illegal fishing by China

LONDON, England: Citing a U.S. official, the Financial Times reported this week that during the Quad summit in Tokyo, the ...

Business

Section

Tesla says will assemble 2,600 cars per day in Shanghai

SHANGHAI, China: Tesla plans to restore production at its Gigafactory 3 plant in Shanghai to pre-COVID-19 lockdown levels by this ...

U.S. stock markets move further ahead, S&P 500 gains nearly two percent

NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rose sharply for a second day Thursday, following a less hawkish outlook by ...

Average age of cars on US roads rises to 12.2 years

DETROIT, Michigan: As supplies of new cars and light trucks remain tight due to supply chain issues, U.S. consumers are ...

Online class business sees 26% jump in business

NEW YORK CITY, New York: The market for global online tutoring services is expected to grow from $21 million in ...

Stocks in Asia finish mainly lower despite overnight surge on Wall Street

SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Shares across Asia fell on Thursday, with the exception of the Chinese mainland market where modest ...

Closed since start of Covid, Chile to reopen Easter Island to tourists

SANTIAGO, Chile: Easter Island, one of Chile's most important tourist attractions, will reopen to visitors on August 1, the government ...

Movie Review

Saturday Night Fever