Some developed countries in the world have begun to shorten "working hours. Japan, on the other hand, has been in the culture of overwork. The problem is so severe that the country has even created a term for it: karoshi, which means death by overwork from stress-induced illnesses or severe depression. If the system of the four-day workweek is tested in Japan, what will happen?
A growing number of smaller companies are adopting a four-day workweek. Now the results of a recent trial at Microsoft (MSFT) suggest it could work even for the biggest businesses.
The company introduced a program in Japan called the Choice Challenge "Work Life ". During the program, Microsoft shut down its offices every Friday in August and gave all employees an extra day off each week.
The results were promising: while the amount of time spent on work was cut dramatically, productivity – measured by sales per employee – went up by almost 40% compared to the same period of the previous year, the company said in a statement last week.
In addition to reducing working hours, managers urged the staff to cut down on the time they spent on meetings.
They suggested that meetings should last no longer than 30 minutes. Employees were also encouraged to cut down on meetings altogether by using an online messaging app (Microsoft's, of course).
The effects were widespread. More than 90% of Microsoft's 2,280 employees in Japan later said they were impacted by the new measures, according to the company. By shutting down earlier each week, the company was also able to save on other resources, such as electricity.
