70% in Japan want telecommuting to continue after pandemic, survey finds

Authored by japantimes.co.jp and submitted by The1stCitizenOfTheIn
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A recent survey has found that 70.0 percent of respondents are in favor of telecommuting even after the coronavirus is contained, with many happy with the reduction in commuting.

Those in favor comprise 24.8 percent who fully think telecommuting should be promoted after the pandemic and 45.2 percent who somewhat think so.

Asked to describe good things about remote work, with multiple answers allowed, 68.2 percent said they have no stress from commuting and 50.6 percent said they can live in and work from places with cheaper housing costs.

Being able to work even when caring for family members or others was mentioned by 47.7 percent, followed by less time spent on unproductive overtime by 42.4 percent, and better working environments for people with physical disabilities by 41.6 percent.

Asked to describe problems with remote work, 71.9 percent said there is work that has to be done at office and 39.1 percent said the lack of workplace interaction may lead to reduced intimacy among colleagues.

Other problems included difficulties communicating with bosses and coworkers (35.8 percent), being bothered by children and other family members during work (30.0 percent), and higher utility and food costs (29.9 percent).

The nationwide survey by Jiji Press was conducted in May on 2,000 people 18 or older. Valid responses were received by 51.3 percent.

salvage_man on June 22nd, 2020 at 09:10 UTC »

Unproductive overtime is really key here. In Japanese work culture, you often don't leave until the boss leaves, regardless of whether there's anything to do or not. Or then you're expected to go out drinking with your workmates until you're in danger of missing the last train. You can choose not to do either of those things, of course, but the cost in social capital is huge.

Normalized telecommuting has massive ramifications for work culture at large, but in Japan it's a potential revolution.

cferrios on June 22nd, 2020 at 08:43 UTC »

Tokyo during rush hour is INSANE. Train and subway stations have people whose job is to literally shove people into crowded cars. I can't see anyone missing that.

That being said, with how demanding the work culture is in Japan, I don't see it changing much because of the pandemic.

The1stCitizenOfTheIn on June 22nd, 2020 at 07:43 UTC »

Those in favor comprise 24.8 percent who fully think telecommuting should be promoted after the pandemic and 45.2 percent who somewhat think so.

Asked to describe good things about remote work, with multiple answers allowed, 68.2 percent said they have no stress from commuting and 50.6 percent said they can live in and work from places with cheaper housing costs.

Being able to work even when caring for family members or others was mentioned by 47.7 percent, followed by less time spent on unproductive overtime by 42.4 percent, and better working environments for people with physical disabilities by 41.6 percent.

Other problems included difficulties communicating with bosses and coworkers (35.8 percent), being bothered by children and other family members during work (30.0 percent), and higher utility and food costs (29.9 percent).

The nationwide survey by Jiji Press was conducted in May on 2,000 people 18 or older. Valid responses were received by 51.3 percent.