Shorter workweek profitable for company and employees, Microsoft Japan's 'Work Life Choice Challenge' shows
The effort is part of an attempt to address the issue of"karoshi" – death from overwork – and to encourage overworked and overburdened couples to have children in a country that is struggling with a shrinking population.
In a country notorious for overwork, Microsoft Japan trialled a radical idea: working less. And it found that four-day weeks and other reforms both boosted sales and cut costs. It also restricted meetings to a maximum of 30 minutes, and encouraged online chats as an alternative to face-to-face communications.
The results were positive, with sales per employee rising almost 40 percent in August from a year earlier, electricity consumption down by a quarter and paper usage being cut in half.
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