Japan embarks on work-hour reform after suicide of woman who did 105 overtime hours a month
The death of 24-year-old Matsuri Takahashi, who worked at advertising giant Dentsu Inc, is a watershed moment
Japan is finally starting to seriously seek ways to curb excessive work hours, with the overwork-related suicide of a young employee spotlighting a long-standing issue that has always been in question but never quite addressed.
The traditional corporate culture in Japan of punishing hours has persisted since the postwar era of rapid economic expansion when hard work seemed to lead to growth.
But that is no longer a driving force with working conditions dramatically changing after the burst of the economic bubble in the early 1990s and the financial crisis in 2008, both of which led Japanese companies to undertake drastic restructuring such as massive job cuts.
Japan worked the third longest hours in 2015 among the Group of Seven industrialised countries, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
But the world’s third largest economy’s work productivity was the worst last year among G-7 nations, according to the Japan Productivity Centre.
The aging population in Japan leaves the country at risk of labour shortages, which could add more pressure on future workers.
