Fujitsu Ltd. said Monday teleworking will become a standard practice for about 80,000 group company employees nationwide even after the spread of the novel coronavirus infection subsides.
The technology giant said it will no longer provide allowances for commuter passes, and transportation expenses for office visits -- when needed -- will be handled separately.
Starting this month, instead of payments for train passes, employees will receive 5,000 yen a month for utilities and devices needed to set up an environment for remote work.
Fujitsu will also stop the practice of job transfers that can result in employees living apart from family members, as long as relevant jobs can be performed via teleworking or on business trips. The new policies do not apply to factory employees.
In terms of a flextime system, which allows employees the freedom to set their own work hours, Fujitsu will in principle do away with "core time," or a common time frame during which all employees are at the workplace.
The company plans to halve the size of its domestic offices by the end of fiscal 2022 as more employees transition to telecommuting.
At the same time, the company will set up satellite and other remote locations where it can exhibit its products and allow employees to meet with customers. The company said it plans to allow workers to use any desk at the workplace.
As the novel coronavirus infection spreads, Fujitsu has set a target of holding down the number of workers showing up to the office to about 25%, at most. An in-house survey conducted from May to June found about 80 percent of employees hoped to continue working from home or telecommuting.
"We want to create a system based on high autonomy of employees, who are not bound by fixed locations or times," Fujitsu Corporate Executive Officer Hiroki Hiramatsu said.
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