The most recent Japanese HR Society newsletter offered two interesting observations of growing HR trends.
The first trend may carry a downside:
“Japan’s health ministry presented a draft plan on Monday to recommend companies to disclose their policies on whether they allow employees to have side jobs and the conditions for giving them permission.”
Given that the population of Japan is shrinking significantly each year and the war for talent is such that organizations can’t fill all positions, this makes sense…until you try to work three eight-hour shifts every day. So we applaud the transparency for those in need but question the sustainability of the practice.
The second is much more practical:
“Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. will in July begin remote work as its new norm for around 30,000 of its domestic employees, treating attendance as a business trip and allowing for work and commute from anywhere in Japan, even by air, a source familiar with the matter said Saturday.”
Treating the office visit as a (covered expense) business trip is a creative approach we would love to see copied in the US.