The number of telecommuters in Japan jumped during fiscal 2008, according to a survey by the transport ministry. Nearly 10 million people telecommuted for eight or more hours per week at the end of last March, up five percentage points from three years earlier, to comprise roughly 15 percent of all workers in Japan. With 46 percent of the workforce telecommuting fewer than eight hours per week, Japan is poised for a potential revolution in the workplace.
Telecommuting can allow many employees a better work-life balance. Workers with young children may particularly benefit. Japan's long commute times, and accompanying stress, could be reduced, concomitantly relieving pressure on overcrowded public transportation. Eliminating the commute for even one day a week could give many employees two or more extra hours of leisure. The flexibility would be relaxing while giving impetus to remaining efficiently on-task during working hours.
Nowadays, the majority of businesses have increased the number of tasks that can be done online or by e-mail. Many of these tasks can be accomplished in different ways with increased efficiency. Outsourcing of other computer work, such as data input and document processing, is, after all, a sort of telecommuting. Businesses can find savings in office space costs.