Japan Introduces a 4-Day Workweek In a never-before occurrence, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government of Japan has decided to enact a four-day working week starting April 2025. The system is expected to answer some of the much-desired challenges in the country’s demography, where the rapidly rising elderly population holds the record for the lowest fertility rate of 1.2 children born per woman, compared to a replacement rate of 2.1. In the last eight years, Japan has had a declining birth rate; this policy has a vision of transforming the work environment into a family-friendly one and promoting gender equality and work-life balance【8】【9】.
The new four-day work week is to be charged against over 160,000 government-paid employees in Tokyo, where they will be able to choose between taking a three-day week towards the end of the month, while still maintaining their gross paychecks at 155 hours of work. Working couple adaptations also apply to parents with younger children allowing them to shrink their working weeks also by two hours which provides them excellent access to childcare burdens. Shortening working hours may also offer the possibility to employees for partial salary adjustment 【8】.
The aim of policy making is to empower women because in Japan they typically bear a dual burden of work and home affairs. Support within the environment would thus sustain women on working premises while nursing or expanding their families【9】.
Cultural Change
This policy has all the makings of a major break from Japanese work habits that are characterized by long hours and limited time away from work. The policy is part of a broader set of ambitious proposals meant to redefine traditional work. Such innovations come in handy at a time when global efforts advocate better work-life balance. Research has shown shorter working weeks can lead to increased productivity, satisfaction, and mental well-being【9】.
Wider Implications
Along with social, Japan’s population development impasse has economic dimensions. As the working-age population decreases, conjuring up the resources needed to maintain economic balance and generate funds for social programs for the elderly starts becoming urgent issues. With family-friendly provisions such as the four-day workweek, the government aspires to raising birth rates and maintaining economic growth in the long haul【8】【9】.
Would India Need to Adopt a 4-Day Workweek?
Different challenges have descended on a populous and diverse entity like India when compared to Japan. Japan is saddled with smaller workforce sizes, while India boasts of a considerably large working-age population reaping the much-talked-about demographic dividend. Still, a four-day work week could serve inarguable benefits in the Indian context:
Work-Life Balance: There burnout is from long working hours and loaded job requirements among many Indian professionals. Shortening the work week should be more contributory to mental health and productive performance.
Gender Bias: Similar to Japan, India does not place a high female participation in the workforce. Flexible working policies might allow more women into the workforce and bring back those who have been out for a while.
Economic Good: Happy and healthy employees increase productivity, say studies, which evidently affects almost all industries.
Challenges in India
To implement such a policy in India, hefty barriers must be taken care of:
Most of the industrial labor in India survives daily wage and cannot afford to reduce working days and would subsequently affect output.
A four-day workweek as implemented among industries from IT to manufacturing will require fundamental infrastructural and cultural shifts.
A Possible Median
Instead of rolling out a national-level policy entirely, a specific sector or government office pilot implementation could be considered for a four-day workweek, and lessons on its feasibility and impact could be drawn from such pilots to inform any pan-national roll-out. Keeping a four-day workweek locally adaptable to the lessons learned might be a very good way to ensure that the initiative does not just get upended by realities of Indian socio-economic conditions.
Of course, Japan has brought in for such governments an example that can serve as a lesson. For India is in very different circumstances, yet, if balanced and flexible working styles are discussed, it might create conditions for a more inclusive and productive workforce.
India in Relevance: Challenges and Opportunities
Indeed, every country has its own issues, but the real differences in the problems of India and Japan are due to their demographic-economic psychosocial profiles. However, the general four-day workweek has much more potential:
- Opportunities
- Added Productivity
- Studies suggest that motivated employees with leisure time tend to work better and maintain their focus during hours of work.
Improved Work-Life Balance
Long hours and work-related stress are also common in India. Reduced workweek hours can help relieve work-related stress, burnout, and mental health problems.
Promotes Gender Equality
The participation of women is low, as is in Japan. Flexible work policies can encourage women to join the workforce.
- Challenges
- Economic Structure
- India’s labor market is heavily based on daily wage and informal work. Implementing reduced work weeks in such sectors could disturb the track of sustainability.
Sectoral Variations
The nature of production and operations in these industries makes it difficult for manufacturing, retail, and agricultural workers to change into four-day working weeks.
Resistance-Based Culture
Shorter work week is likely to be resisted on grounds of poor productivity by both employees and employers who will cite longer hours are a mark of dedication.
Japan is going to implement 4 day work week from 2025…
— Gk (@Ggk_here_) December 12, 2024
Narayana Murthy after reading this : pic.twitter.com/4oRheHAi2R