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Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

cnn.com

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Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#21

Post by MBCook »

FigurativeVoid wrote: post #8
MBCook wrote: post #3

I wish these stories would say if the hours are changing or not. 32 hours, 4 days a week seems better to me. But if all you do is take 40 hours and make it 10 hour days I’m not that much happier.

I have had friends and family that work 4x10s or even 3x12s and they all vastly prefer the trade-off of more hours per work day for fewer days.

I’d still likely take the option, I just think it’s unnecessary. Productivity is ridiculously up since the 8 hour day was established, even since just two decades ago.

Tasks expand to take up the available time, even if usefulness doesn’t.

I suspect you’d see little loss in cutting down to 32/hr/week, and I suspect it would be more than made up for by the gains of giving people that extra day. So it may be a net positive.

I guess my main concern is that a lot of companies (not speaking about Japan here, just the US) might decide to use four days a week as a way to make people crunch four days thinking that having three days off would make up for that. And things wouldn’t really be any better.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#22

Post by mikestew »

antisthenes wrote: post #7

Too little too late. It may have an impact on the next generation, in 10-20 years, if at all. Also, for government employees only...

The best time to plant a tree, and all…

Surely your argument isn’t, “at this point, why bother to do anything?”

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#23

Post by irrational »

WillyWonkaJr wrote: post #18

Japan is forecast to still have 50 million people in 2120. I wouldn't call this a population crisis. With some rewilding it could be quite pleasant! I suspect companies are afraid of not growing, and governments are afraid to cut spending. Source: https://www.jcer.or.jp/english/new-population-projection-how...

What percentage of the 50 million will be old people?

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#24

Post by tdb7893 »

WillyWonkaJr wrote: post #18

Japan is forecast to still have 50 million people in 2120. I wouldn't call this a population crisis. With some rewilding it could be quite pleasant! I suspect companies are afraid of not growing, and governments are afraid to cut spending. Source: https://www.jcer.or.jp/english/new-population-projection-how...

The population more than halving in the next century causes issues for normal people with expenses of supporting aging population and maintaining infrastructure with an ever dwindling percent of the population working age. There are some benefits to lower populations but also significant practical drawbacks to working class people.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#25

Post by cableshaft »

jorblumesea wrote: post #20
WillyWonkaJr wrote: post #18

Japan is forecast to still have 50 million people in 2120. I wouldn't call this a population crisis. With some rewilding it could be quite pleasant! I suspect companies are afraid of not growing, and governments are afraid to cut spending. Source: https://www.jcer.or.jp/english/new-population-projection-how...

It's not about the amount of people but your population pyramid. If your population halves, expect a lot of pain. Especially for the elderly.

Especially for something like Social Security safety nets, which relies on a larger younger population paying into it. I'm not sure if Japan has an equivalent but I think they do.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#26

Post by jajko »

7thaccount wrote: post #2

That sounds....huge. I know many working couples where one would probably take that in a heartbeat. You lose some money, but gain more family time and sanity. Having Friday to finish chores and being able to enjoy the weekend unstressed is huge, not to mention clocking out early each day to be able to pick up your kid and not have to get back to work or whatever.

Not sure about rest of the world, but here in Switzerland mothers often take Wednesdays off - first years of school its not on Wednesdays, and then it starts with just mornings. Wife has it and she repeatedly claimed that she will never go back to 5 days workweek.

Most employers, be it private or state ones have 0 issues with this setup. 20% less, maybe 15% net income less ain't that huge of a deal - if it is, something ain't right in your finances anyway. What is gained is very well worth it, time with parents is crucial in many ways for small kids and if that window is missed you can't make it up later. Catching up with stuff like bureaucracy which is unavailable during weekends is possible only during such time.

Its true that having kids fundamentally changed my view on wealth and how much should I pursue higher paychecks, life is darn short anyway and double that with kids. I am switching to 90% contract from 1.1.2025 - working usual 5 days a week but having altogether 48.5 MDs of paid vacation (90% of 25MDs I had on 100% + 0.5 MD per each week in year, our HR recipe). It feels like being a teacher but on corporate paycheck (and work intensity). Even with 4 mortgages (for 2 properties) and no family to help financially if we hit hardships, this was a nobrainer. Other aspect would be retiring in 60 (max 61), but that's too far down the line to care much about now.

I am looking very much into spending that time on family and myself. One needs to be happy or at least content with its own life to make others happy too, and thats not achievable easily in rat races. For such benefits alone I don't care about higher paychecks, money only can get you so far in life.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#27

Post by Barrin92 »

>Many sociologists attribute the ever-plunging birth rates to Japan’s unforgiving work culture and rising costs of living.

It still seems like an incredibly odd argument to me given that the birth rate is only marginally lower than in the most generous, least working European nations. Hungary spent 5%(!) of its GDP on direct family support and it did very little (raised the birth rate by 0.15 give or take).

I wonder when people will just acknowledge that most of the secular decline of 1-2 children is simply down to personal choice, family planning, education and financial freedom. (and adjust economic policies accordingly)

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#28

Post by sahila »

pamelafox wrote: post #13

Would schools and childcare providers also have 4-day workweeks? I really appreciate that I have 5 days of childcare now, as I find it exhausting to be 24/7 parenting two lil kids for two days straight (the weekends). If the norm was 4-day workweeks, I would pay my nanny overtime for Fridays. And then yes, maybe I'd get chores done on Friday! Currently, chores just don't get done ever. :D

What about the nanny wanting a 4 day work week, and what if they have children of their own?

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#30

Post by WillyWonkaJr »

irrational wrote: post #23
WillyWonkaJr wrote: post #18

Japan is forecast to still have 50 million people in 2120. I wouldn't call this a population crisis. With some rewilding it could be quite pleasant! I suspect companies are afraid of not growing, and governments are afraid to cut spending. Source: https://www.jcer.or.jp/english/new-population-projection-how...

What percentage of the 50 million will be old people?

40.4%
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