Information Releases

Survey of Corporate Attitudes Towards Work Style Reform

63.1% of companies are positive about work style reform
— Specifically, “Reducing long working hours” and “Promotion of taking holidays” —

Introduction

In June 2018, the House of Councilors passed and enacted a package of “work style reform bills” at the plenary session, which will be enforced from April 1, 2019. Large companies will be covered by these bills from April 2019, and SMEs will be covered from April 2020. While the labor shortage continues, it is believed that efforts to reform work style will become increasingly important for productivity enhancement in the future through investment and innovation, in step with HR recruitment, retention, and development.

Teikoku Databank has conducted a survey of the status of progress and views of efforts to reform work style.

*Survey period: August 20 – August 31, 2018, Companies Surveyed: 23,099, Valid Responses: 9,918 (Response Rate: 42.9%).

*Details of this survey can be found on the dedicated Economic Trend Survey HP. (http://www.tdb-di.com).

*Results of the detailed analysis of this survey will be posted on TDB REPORT Vol. 154 (to be published on October 26, 2018).

Primary points of survey results(summary)

  1. 1 With respect to the status of the progress of efforts to reform work style, 37.5% of companies are “making efforts.” By combining that with those saying “they are not working on it at present, but will make efforts in the future” (25.6%), 63.1% of companies are positive about such efforts. 2.6% of companies "used to work on it before, but do not make efforts at present.” Those saying “no plan to make efforts” stands at 15.1%.
  2. 2 The most emphasized purposes of the efforts to reform work style are “improvement of employees’ motivation” with the highest percentage of 25.6%, followed by “retention of human resources” (19.8%), “productivity enhancement” (15.9%), “physical and mental health of employees (Health and Productivity Management)” (15.4%), and “smooth HR recruitment” (8.9%).
  3. 3 Specific efforts made are “reducing long working hours,” which falls under labor and HR aspects, with the highest percentage of 79.8%, followed by “promotion of taking holidays” (61.8%), and “development of human resources” (56.3%). Effective efforts scoring the highest percentage are “reducing long working hours” (30.3%) in aspects of labor and HR, “introduction of IT equipment and a system to streamline and enhance efficiency of business affairs” (21.5%) in business improvement (productivity enhancement), and “obtaining employees’ understanding” (22.2%) in management and business.
  4. 4 Items for which efforts are to be made hereafter are “promotion of taking holidays” with the highest percentage (24.8%), followed by “change and improvement of personnel evaluation system and wage system” (23.9%), and “recruitment and appointment of diverse human resources” (21.2%).
  5. 5 Reasons for not making efforts are “do not feel the need” with the highest percentage (37.6%), followed by “cannot anticipate an effect” (34.1%), and “cannot manage due to labor shortage and busy business” (29.4%).
Economic and Industry Trends TOP