Japan on Monday launched a scheme to promote "telework", or working from home, in an effort to ease congestion when Tokyo hosts the 2020 Olympics, as well as soften a notoriously rigid work culture. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government has introduced policies to shorten working hours, raise contract workers' pay, and curb abuse of labour laws. But Japan, Inc. is starting to change its ways and introduce more flexible work hours. Some companies are starting to realise that long, inflexible hours of work actually keep labour productivity low. "In the past, working long hours was considered a virtue, but this thinking will not hold up in the future."

Source: dna July 24, 2017 05:37 UTC