The government plans to make telecommuting and videoconferencing -- which have been adopted by ministries and agencies in their efforts to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus -- established practices, sources said.
It aims to drastically review the work style of government officials and create an environment in which they can continue working without coming to their offices in times of emergencies. The Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs will soon instruct ministries and agencies to start implementing the measures.
As part of its work style reforms, the government hopes the measures will reduce overtime hours and make it easier for employees to take vacations to balance work and family life, thereby promoting an example of a post-coronavirus work style. It also aims to secure excellent human resources by improving the working environment.
Specifically, the government will ask ministries and agencies to set at least one month in the period from July to September as a "month for promoting and strengthening work style reforms." Central government offices will review their operations during this period to intensively examine advantages and improvements of adopting telecommuting and videoconferencing -- resorted to by necessity during the coronavirus state of emergency -- and eventually shift the practices to permanent ones.
During the period, ministries and agencies also will promote the computerization of documents and review steps to eliminate unnecessary work, such as the abolition of seals and paperwork, and ask departments that have difficulty implementing telecommuting to review their work toward its introduction.
The government wants to shift briefings to senior officials within the office and arrangements on budget requests discussed among entities to video-conferences in order to improve efficiency in all operations.
By promoting working from home and flexible working hours through telework, the government aims to create an environment in which employees can keep working while raising children. Its aim is that "work style reforms progress and take root in a true sense on this occasion of experiencing the coronavirus crisis." It also aims for the initiative to be taken by Kasumigaseki -- as the central bureaucracy is known, in reference to the area of Tokyo where many of its offices are located.
Behind the move is the necessity to improve Kasumigaseki's own working environment.
In fiscal 2020, the number of applicants for the national civil service examination decreased by 3.3% from the previous year to 16,730, marking the fourth consecutive year of decline.
According to a survey conducted by the Cabinet Personnel Bureau on national public servants between November and December last year, half of the respondents felt that work style reforms had not progressed, and 56% thought that there was much inefficient and unnecessary work. The survey also showed that 14.7% of male public servants under the age of 30 were considering quitting their job within three years.
Such results suggest that improvement of the work environment is necessary.
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