Panasonic is introducing an optional four-day work week

Panasonic is introducing an optional four-day work week for employees, which will allow them to spend less time working and more time enjoying being alive. It's one more small push towards a better world where shorter working weeks are the norm.

Panasonic will give its workers a third day off per week, with CEO Kusumi Yuki saying they may even work a side job. Japan's economic policy guidelines last year encouraged employers to work four-day weeks.

Kusumi said that they must support the wellbeing of their employees.

The electronics manufacturer is trying to make it easier to balance work and life by allowing more employees to work from home and giving them the freedom to refuse job transfers. It's not clear if the new policies will apply to all employees or if they will be adjusted to offset workers' reduced days.
Panasonic has been reached out to.

The four-day work week is a dream that has been dangled before workers for years. The world's largest trial of a shorter work week saw significant gains in workers' happiness, health, and productivity. Microsoft Japan trialed a four-day work week to great success in 2019. A two-month trial saw a 20 percent increase in productivity after the firm switched to a four-day work week.

Reduced work days have been tested and retested all over the world and the results have always been positive. The shorter work week has been shown to benefit employees and employers alike. Companies continue to drag their feet, claiming that it isn't feasible, that it wouldn't work in their industry, and that they're a special case.

The growing anti-work movement may inspire more employers to rethink their stance, as the economic impact of the COVID-19 epidemic may cause more workers to be dissatisfied.