The way employees work has become more diverse and fluid amid the protracted coronavirus pandemic, leading to new work styles as an increasing number of people are on loan, taking second jobs or switching companies entirely.
The travel and restaurant industries, among others, have been especially hard hit, although many workers are choosing to view the predicament positively as an opportunity.
-- Mutually beneficial
"Good morning," Kana Toyono said cheerfully at Lexus Funabashi in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, as a customer entered the Toyota Motor Corp. luxury brand dealership. She then led the customer to a meeting room for discussions.
Toyono, 35, is employed by a firm affiliated with Japan Airlines group but has been working on loan at the Lexus dealership since February this year, mainly greeting customers and answering the phone.
As the number of airline passengers has nose-dived amid the pandemic, the JAL group had up to about 1,800 employees a day working outside their main workplace, including some on loan, as of Sept. 6.
Toyono has been with JAL for seven years and had been working at a passenger service counter for international flights at Narita International Airport. When asked last December about being loaned to another company, she accepted the offer hoping it would increase her skills.
Lexus Funabashi is aiming to tap into the customer service know-how fostered at airlines.
"There are many things we can learn [from Toyono], such as her caring approach to customers as evidenced by her appreciative words," said Eiji Matsuda, the 48-year-old general manager at the dealership.
For her part, Toyono is gaining insights working at the auto dealer.
"Speed is needed at an airline's customer service counter, but a more courteous response is required here," Toyono said. "This is a valuable lesson."
-- Honing skills at a side job
An increasing number of companies are allowing workers to take on second jobs as wages have decreased for many during the pandemic.
Since last July, Kirin Holdings Co. has allowed employees to have side jobs to deepen their knowledge and experience outside the beverage maker. About 40 staff have taken up such work, with some making use of their expertise to write articles or give lectures. Others do design work.
Daiki Kaneda, 27, was in charge of sales to eateries, which are struggling amid the pandemic. In August last year, he began working at a firm managing sports clubs where he was an intern during his college days.
Kaneda works once or twice a week at night distributing online a series of seminars about the life outlooks of corporate managers and top athletes.
"By working at both a large company and a start-up, I can see matters more objectively," Kaneda said.
A Kirin official said: "We hope he will make use of the skills he has honed through the side business in his main work duties."
-- Seeking new employment
Data shows that workers are searching for more fluid styles of work.
According to the Industrial Employment Stabilization Center of Japan, which acts as a broker between companies involving workers on loan, the number of such workers totaled 3,061 in fiscal 2020, an about 150% increase from fiscal 2019.
As of February, there were an estimated 4.39 million workers with side jobs, according to Lancers, Inc., an intermediary firm for service contracts. That figure is up 190,000 from the previous year.
Recruit Co. conducted a poll in the spring and found that roughly 63% of about 1,000 people who had begun searching for new employment said they did so because of the pandemic. With multiple responses allowed, 35% of respondents, the largest, said they "felt uncertain over the company's strategy and its course of action" amid the pandemic, while 26% said they "wanted to do more fulfilling work."
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