Working for Balance - Japan's Balancing Act
Monday, September 01, 2008PAUL KANGAS: Work-life balance is a relatively new concept in Japan. The rise of the career woman and the desire of younger Japanese, both male and female, to have some personal time of their own run counter to the ingrained mindset that values long hours at the office. NBR's Lucy Craft reports from Tokyo on how some Japanese firms are embracing work-life balance.
LUCY CRAFT, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Endlessly self- sacrificing, slaving corporate warriors are the heroes behind Japan's post- war economic miracle. But 60 years on, the legends have become a liability. Japan has declared war on workaholism. Fighting workaholism has become a national imperative, in part, because scenes like this are becoming all too rare. Overwork is causing underpopulation, says consultant Joanna Park.
JOANNA PARK, WORK-LIFE CONSULTANT, APPASSIONATA: Many husbands don't get home until, let's say, 10 or 11 p.m. or many times after midnight, so the wife has to do everything. If she is working, she has to do work, she has to do the housework, and taking care of the kids all by herself. And we see a lot of women see that reality, and realize that if I get married and have kids, I have to do that, and they just don't want to do it.
CRAFT: And for the world's fastest-aging society, the baby deficit spells fiscal disaster.
PARK: With that birthrate, Japan cannot maintain the social benefits and pension plans as government has promised.
CRAFT: Workaholic habits die hard in Japan. Burning the midnight oil remains common here. But a handful of Japanese companies are trying to get their workers to stop and smell the flowers. Fast Retailing, which runs the UNIQLO apparel chain, began experimenting with work-life balance programs three years ago says Saeko Kaneko, who is in charge of employee relations.
SAEKO KANEKO, EMPLOYEE RELATIONS TEAM, FAST RETAILING (through translator): Giving our employees more time off means they can spend more time with family, and on self-improvement. That makes them healthier and more creative, which in turn makes them more efficient and improves the quality of their work.
CRAFT: Worried about its global image and anxious to attract and keep talented employees, the company stopped requiring store managers to work 10-hour days. Now, women run about a fifth of their stores, in a country where management roles usually go to men. But women aren't the only beneficiaries of Fast Retailing's anti-overtime policy. Toru Iwaizumi splits childcare duties with his wife, also a Fast Retailing employee.
TORU IWAIZUMI, EMPLOYEE, FAST RETAILING (through translator): I've had to become more systematic. Everyone on my team has become more ruthless about deciding what's essential to our jobs and what isn't. I think that's a good thing.
CRAFT: To slash overtime, meetings have been sped up by requiring workers to stand, instead of sit. And for most employees, desks are history. Instead, workers are assigned just a cell phone and portable computer. Doing without permanent desks, the thinking goes, cuts clutter, literally and figuratively. Finally, at headquarters, it's lights out at 7:00. Unless permission is granted in advance, even laggards are kicked out by dinnertime.
KANEKO (through translator): We don't have proof that cutting overtime helps the bottom line, but the fact is our revenues are growing and overtime has been drastically reduced. So our campaign has yielded results.
CRAFT: Fast Retailing's progressive workplace is still unusual for Japan. But with workaholism taking a severe toll on Japanese society, experts say other Japanese corporation have no choice but to follow suit. Lucy Craft, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Tokyo.
