As in many other developed countries, the widespread adoption of telecommuting in the wake of the pandemic was a huge change. In Japan, telecommuting was originally promoted by the government around 2000 as a way to promote the employment of diverse human resources, such as those who have difficulty coming into the office and working all day, such as those who have to balance work with childcare or nursing care, and people with disabilities, as well as from the perspective of BCP in case of a disaster or other disaster that paralyzes transportation. However, it was not very common except in some developed companies.

Here are the results of a survey we conducted of workers working for companies with 300 or more employees: as of March 2020, more than half of workers said they were not ready to work from home, but in the March 2021 survey, that number had dropped to 36%. In the March 2022 survey, about 50% of the respondents workers were telecommuting, and about 15% of the respondents workers were not telecommuting, although an environment that allows telecommuting is in place. The ratio is as follows.

Our company has been conducting telecommuting trials since 2013, and has been preparing for it by identifying issues, mainly paperless and IT issues. In 2018, we created the "Telework Work Regulations" and participated in a program called "Telework Days" promoted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, with many employees working in Tokyo trying telecommuting once a year. Even before the pandemic, telecommuting was used when, for example, someone broke a leg or they or their family members became infected with an infectious disease, but telecommuting was still perceived as a "special way of working."

However, thanks to these preparations, we were able to smoothly respond to the introduction of ABW (Activity Based Working) at the head office in 2018 and the recommendation to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020. I would say that hybrid work began in earnest in 2021. The telework work regulations have changed, and it is now possible to work remotely up to four days a week by applying to the Human Resources Department, even if there are no special circumstances such as childcare, elderly care, or injury.

Earlier, we reported that our survey showed that half of the workers employees at companies with 300 or more employees telecommute. However, other surveys have shown that the percentage of telecommuting is lower among smaller companies. Also, telecommuting is widespread among workers who work in large cities such as Tokyo, but workers in rural areas is different.

Meanwhile, our research shows that workers in 2022 than in 2021. More discretion regarding work style For example, an increasing workers responded that they could "decide for themselves which days to come to the office, rather than having the day designated by the company," and that they did not need their boss's approval to choose where to work. We are moving towards true hybrid work, where people can choose where they work at their own will. I think we can say that.

There is also a strong trend toward returning to the office, and we feel that many companies cite employee communication and innovation perspectives as reasons. In our survey, more and more workers companies each year feel that there is a lack of casual communication that is not necessary for business operations, such as news, weather, and employees' personal lives.

It is commonly said that Japanese companies are slow to change. In terms of changes in working styles alone, the biggest reason is likely to be that the labor market is less fluid and the competition to acquire talent is less intense than in other developed countries. Until now, there has been no sense of crisis that employees might quit if they were not offered flexible work styles and workplace options. However, there are survey results and reports that show that "many employees intend to leave companies that do not allow teleworking or working from home," and I imagine that the pandemic will trigger a change in the way companies think in the future.

Another reason why Japanese companies are reluctant to change is that "few people know about or want to know about the situation of companies outside of Japan due to the language barrier." For example, concepts that companies should now emphasize, such as "diversity and inclusion" and "sustainability," are always "imported" to Japan late. Also, I think many people don't fully understand why they are necessary or how enthusiastically overseas companies are working on them.

In looking at the case studies of various clients, I feel that the visions and slogans that companies aiming to reform their work styles set are often vague and are not firmly linked to specific workplace or IT measures. Also, change management methods are not very common in Japan, so behavioral changes in workers are often overlooked in projects. When I actually introduce ITOKI's initiatives to clients, they often praise the strong connection between the aspiration (desired state), the 10 activities of ABW*, and the office design.

​It is also important not to immediately judge whether a project is a success or failure. This is something we realized when we received consulting from Veldhoen + Company. It takes time for work styles and employee behavior to change, so it is necessary to wait and see for a while, but I think this kind of feeling is probably not common in many Japanese companies. In order to avoid getting too excited or upset about negative opinions immediately after making a change, I felt it was important for project members to have a consensus in advance about how to measure the effects and how to proceed in the future.

For me, A Better World of Work is "being able to work in a state of physical, mental, and social well-being." Japan is a country with many problems regarding employment and working styles. Some of you may be familiar with the term "Karoshi," but many people damage their health due to illegal overtime work, and the gender role division of labor and gender gap still remain strong. Of course, the way of thinking of the younger generation is changing, but the way of thinking of people of management and managerial age remains unchanged, and many people are unable to achieve the way of working and lifestyle they want, which I feel leads to the impairment of well-being.

I felt such issues with the state of employment in Japan and majored in the sociology of labor at university as well. I also thought that telework could be a solution to the gender gap and health issues, and conducted interviews with leading companies. However, as a result, I concluded at the time that it would be difficult for a typical company workers to implement such a system because of the Japanese work culture, in which working long hours at a seat in full view of the boss is highly valued. I had no idea that the term "hybrid work" would be coined or that telework would become so widespread. By spreading flexible work styles, workers I hope that each and every one of us can have the healthy work style and lifestyle that we desire, and I believe that we have been steadily approaching such a state in the past few years.