Tag - reform

 
 

REFORM

Spot workers who choose when and where to work through dedicated apps during their free time are seen as a new pool of human resources in industry sectors that have faced labor shortages.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 4, 2023
Number of 'spot workers' surges in Japan amid labor shortage
The work style has gained popularity due to the flexibility it offers: individuals can choose when and where to work through dedicated apps.
Akina Shu has visited around 50 countries as a speaker and ambassador on the digital nomad lifestyle since 2020.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Nov 27, 2023
Japan is enticing for digital nomads, but visa hurdles remain
While the country does not offer a digital nomad visa, the government is working on introducing one sometime in 2024.
Members of a freelancers group opposing Japan's new invoice system hand documents requesting its abolition to Finance Ministry officials in Tokyo on Nov. 13.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2023
Manga artists and taxi drivers hit as tax frustrations mount
About 4.6 million businesses that were previously exempt from paying sales tax have been impacted by a new invoice system.
The labor ministry is planning to review the workers' accident compensation program to cover all freelancers commissioned to work for companies.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2023
Japan to expand workers' accident compensation for freelancers
The measure is aimed at creating an environment in which freelancers can work with a sense of security.
A new government panel will discuss the salaries and work styles of local government employees.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 16, 2023
Japan panel to probe work conditions for local government staff
Panel members are expected to exchange opinions about salary, personnel management systems and work styles.
Enza Guzzo holds the letter of dismissal in Arese, Italy, on Oct. 11. Guzzo's former employer fired her in 2011 after she had a second daughter. She later won a lawsuit against them.
WORLD / Society
Oct 16, 2023
Job or baby? Italian women's struggle to have both holds back growth.
Over half of Italian women said they found it impossible to combine work and childcare.
The Seagram Building in New York on April 24. Three years into a mass workplace experiment, we are beginning to understand more about how work from home is reshaping workers’ lives and the economy.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 11, 2023
Here’s what we do and don’t know about the effects of remote work
Over three years since the pandemic forced many to telework, studies of productivity in work-from-home arrangements are all over the map.
LeanIn.Org founder Sheryl Sandberg
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 5, 2023
Women are asking for promotions, but men keep getting them
Women want to be leaders in the workplace, but employers are still passing them by in favor of their male counterparts.
Mori Building's Azabudai Hills complex in Tokyo's Minato Ward, which will house offices, shops, apartments, hotels and a school, is set to open in November
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 2, 2023
While Manhattan’s offices stay empty, Tokyo keeps building
Remote working has decimated offices in cities like New York and London. But Tokyo's workspaces have bounced back, also thanks to new builds.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits a logistics company in Tokyo's Ota Ward on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Sep 28, 2023
What is Japan's so-called 2024 problem?
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is turning his attention to a looming challenge: a shortage of truck drivers.
Paternity leave has not taken root in Japan due to concerns over decreases in income and disruptions to the work side of life.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 24, 2023
Japan local governments working to encourage paternity leave
From Saga to Yamanashi, local officials are trying a variety of policies to give their male employees a chance to better participate in family life.
Jesus Picasso, a builder originally from Mexico, takes a water break during hot weather in Manvel, Texas, on July 13.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 7, 2023
Climate change already adding to workplace costs and hazards
Workers are among the most exposed to serious health risks, while employers must grapple with impaired productivity
A South Korean teacher reacts as others chant slogans during a protest to demand better protection of their rights and to mourn a young teacher found dead in July in an apparent suicide, in Seoul on Monday. The signs read "Vote for an agreement on the protection of teachers' rights."
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 6, 2023
South Korean teachers want an end to parents’ harassment
Teachers say they often face pressure from parents who make excessive or impossible demands of them, including favoritism for their children.
A survey by a health ministry research team has found that a significant proportion of doctors in Japan are at risk of death from overwork.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 29, 2023
Around 20% of doctors in Japan at risk of death from overwork
A survey showed that 20.4% of full-time doctors worked over 60 hours per week, exceeding the weekly legal working hours of 40 hours.
An office worker in London. A new report found that 36% of so-called workpoints — cubicles and desks — are never occupied, "indicating a general oversupply.”
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 23, 2023
More than one-third of desks globally sit empty all week long
The dearth of desk usage could prompt employers to rethink their real estate needs.
People look at job listings. A U.N. study has found that artificial intelligence is likely to change the intensity of work and the degree of worker autonomy than destroy jobs.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 22, 2023
AI more likely to change work than destroy jobs: U.N. study
The study found that 5.5% of employment in high-income countries was potentially exposed to impacts from generative AI, more than in low-income countries.
Workers at a WeWork coworking office in London
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 11, 2023
Flexible work will survive despite gloomy corporate signals
A growing body of research, trend data and surveys show that flexibility matters, and that work is now a thing we do, not a place we go.
Logistics companies have started asking truck drivers to use sleep-tracking devices.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 10, 2023
Japan truck industry monitors drivers' sleep ahead of overtime cap
Firms are asking drivers to use mattress sleep trackers and wearables as they ready for an expected industry-wide crunch once overtime is limited.
A recent report showed that the number of career bureaucrats leaving government to join startups had quadrupled over the two years through fiscal 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 8, 2023
Japan’s young civil servants are growing disillusioned
Big companies remain the most popular career option, attracting 34% of those who change jobs.
A new study suggests that the benefits from shifting to a four-day week may last and grow stronger over time, rather than dissipating.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2023
Employee health benefits of four-day weeks persist, study shows
Self-reported physical and mental health scores held steady over a full year of the pilot program, while work-life balance continued to improve.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?