More and more companies are encouraging employees to do telework -- working from home or another off-site location -- and stagger their working hours in an effort to prevent infections of a new type of coronavirus.
Leading staffing company Pasona Group Inc. beefed up infection prevention measures for employees Monday. Pregnant employees and those aged 50 and older, both of whom are more susceptible to serious illness, are encouraged to work remotely. If client companies allow telework, Pasona will ask the staff it dispatches to use the system. When registering temp workers, Pasona normally holds an interview at its office, but it will allow the use of video calls for such interviews by the end of February.
Pasona also newly created an "off-peak commuting system" under which employees are allowed to come to work early in the morning or slightly before noon to avoid commuting during rush hour. "The infection has been spreading faster than expected. We would like to reduce the risk by eliminating human contact as much as possible," a company official concerned said.
Major internet service company GMO Internet Inc. has allowed about 4,000 employees, which make up about 90 percent of its domestic workforce, to work remotely since Jan. 27. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011, the company implemented steps for smoothly shifting to telework in the wake of a disaster, although this is the first time for the company to put the system into place on a large scale due to an emergency situation, according to the company.
Rakuten Inc. has suspended business trips to China and the acceptance of clients traveling from the country since Jan. 24. Since mid-January, the company has asked employees who have returned from China or whose family members have returned from China to work off-site for two weeks. "We are giving priority to the safety of employees and will take further measures going forward," an official in charge of public relations at the company said.
According to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, the introduction rate of telework in Japan stood at 19.1 percent in 2018, lower than the rate of 90 percent in the United States and 40 percent in Britain. Since big crowds are expected in Tokyo this year due to the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, some companies are promoting telework among their workers. Suntory Holdings Ltd., which is located near an Olympic venue, is one such company that is asking employees to work remotely.
Masks become mandatory
Bus drivers and tour guides in Japan are confirmed to have been infected with the new coronavirus. In such circumstances, some taxi and bus companies are making it mandatory to wear masks.
On Jan. 30, Seibu Bus Co. in Saitama Prefecture distributed masks to about 2,500 crew members at four group companies that operate regular buses, sightseeing buses and vehicles for hire and obliged them to wear masks. "In order to prevent infection, we judged it would be more appropriate to make it mandatory to wear masks than just encouraging it," an official in charge of the matter said. The company plans to keep the measure in place until the situation calms down.
Major taxi company Nihon Kotsu Co. in Tokyo has also made it mandatory for about 10,000 drivers, including those at partner companies, to wear masks in principle since Jan. 28.
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