How To Work Less: Japan To Launch ‘Premium Friday’ Campaign To Provide Respite To Its Overworked Citizens

Outrage over Japan’s punishing work culture has led to the country — which coined the term “karoshi” or death by overwork — launching a “Premium Friday” campaign, allowing employees to finish work early on the last Friday of every month to relax and have fun.

Scheduled to start on Feb. 24, the initiative by the Japanese government and business groups comes soon after the issue came into the spotlight after Tadashi Ishii, head of Japan’s biggest advertising agency Dentsu, resigned over the suicide of Matsuri Takahashi, a 24-year-old employee who committed suicide in December 2015 after she went into depression from overwork.

According to data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Japan had worked the third-longest hours among the Group of Seven countries in 2015 but ranked as having the worst productivity of the G-7 nations in the same year, according to the Japan Productivity Center.

“Japan is still a country where working long hours is considered a virtue,” said Kazunari Tamaki, a lawyer who specializes in karoshi, told Japan’s Kyodo. “But we need to focus on improving efficiency within fixed hours to boost productivity.”

According to a Bloomberg report, it is not known how many companies will participate in the campaign but Keidanren — the Japan’s biggest business lobby — has encouraged its over 1,300 member companies to take part in “Premium Friday.”

The concept will give a boost to spending and if most workers participate in the campaign, the country’s private consumption could rise by almost 124 billion yen ($1.6 billion) on each Premium Friday, according to Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo.

However, in practice, the campaign may not achieve its objective as many smaller companies may require their employees to make the time up on other days. In a country that has 16 annual public holidays —higher than the likes of U.S. and France — as its workers usually use only half of their annual paid leave, the implementation of the “Premium Friday” scheme may be a challenge.