Telework has been attracting attention as a measure to prevent turmoil on transportation networks during the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and in the wake of disasters. It's also a good preventive measure amid the spread of the novel coronavirus, but how to get telework to become more common among employees is a challenge for companies.
"The only thing I can't do through telework is put seals on documents," said Takuji Fujiura, 57, an employee of IT service company SCSK Corp. He was working while conversing online with colleagues who were at the head office in Koto Ward, Tokyo. Fujiura was at a satellite office set up by the company in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo. The office is equipped with necessary equipment such as a computer and a telephone.
The area around the company's head office is home to many Olympic venues, so is expected to be crowded during the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. To allow employees to telework more easily, the company established a "settlement" system in 2017.
The company subsidizes costs associated with telework from home under the heading of utilities and other charges. Just after the system was introduced, the company provided 1,000 yen for employees who teleworked once or twice a month and 2,000 yen for those who teleworked three days or more a month.
The allowances were doubled for departments where managerial staff telework a certain number of days. As a result, more company documents were computerized, and now about 400 employees, or about 6% of the total staff, choose to telework each day.
Fujiura also works at home or the satellite office once or twice a week. It takes 90 minutes to commute to the head office, but is half that when working at the satellite office and none at all when working at home.
"Now I have more time and strength, and enjoy fulfilling personal time. I'm more motivated for work," he said with a smile.
According to a survey conducted by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry in 2018, about 19 percent of companies with 100 employees or more used telework.
One of the obstacles to telework is the existence of face-to-face meetings. Last summer, NEC Corp. encouraged employees to telework for five consecutive days, saying "If you telework only once a week, meetings tend to be arranged on other days, but that's pointless."
After this, use at NEC of an online meeting system rapidly increased. It became common to proceed with meetings and create materials on the presumption that meetings would be held online, according to the company.
As a measure against pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus, NEC called on 60,000 domestic employees to telework or hold online meetings on Feb. 17. "Each employee can choose to telework flexibly. We can effectively use telework in case of emergencies, such as disasters and epidemics," the company said.
Ajinomoto Co. once required employees to report plans to telework to their superiors at least a week in advance, but the company abolished that procedure in 2017. It contracted with an operator of private office space and set up a workplace outside the company.
It also allows employees to use unoccupied rooms in company residences for telework. An employee who needs to regularly go to the hospital told the company, "I could work at an office space near the hospital, which was very helpful for me."
Employees of Japan Airlines had such questions as "Can I work at a library?" or "I can't work at home because my family members are there." In response, JAL in 2016 changed its policy of only allowing home-based telework, to allow it from any location.
Few employees had used telework up to that point, but now it has increased to about 50 a day. When Typhoon No. 19 approached last year, about 500 employees teleworked.
"Lots of employees are used to telework, so we could respond to emergencies smoothly," a JAL official said.
The number of telework spaces has been on the rise.
In 2016, Tokyu Corp. launched the shared office business "NewWork" in three locations in Tokyo and Yokohama. The number of its shared office spaces had increased to over 100 locations in 2018, and is expected to grow to more than 200 by the time of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
The office spaces can be freely used by employees of contract companies, and Tokyu now has 320 member companies with a total of 160,000 employees. An official at Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., which contracted with Tokyu last summer, said, "Employees can telework from anywhere, but we as a company wanted to have a place where employees can work with ease."
Skylark Holdings Co. has increased the number of restaurants where all seats are equipped with power outlets to 900, saying more and more businesspeople use computers after eating.
Thirty restaurants in central Tokyo also have one-person booths with walls in front and back. One user said, "I can use a computer and open documents with a sense of security."
According to Mika Togashi of the Japan Telework Association: "To spread telework, it is necessary to make a telework system user-friendly and improve it carefully and in a timely manner. When a certain number of employees start to use telework, operational methods will also change and telework will spread quickly."
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