The Juggling Act, Part I: The Effect of Long Working Hours on Work-Life Balance

Not surprisingly, the range of people who are unhappy with long working hours stretches from blue-collar workers such as assembly operatives to top executives of large organizations. Whatever job we hold, it seems the desire to live more fulfilling lives is a universal one and one that is gaining ground in peoples’ lists of personal priorities. Surely it is the voicing of this discontent that has gone at least some way towards effecting the changes that several countries are currently extending towards their citizens.

For example, in the 1990s the EU introduced a law known as the Working Time Directive. This limits the hours of a working week to a maximum of 48 with anything more being paid as overtime and then only if the individual elects to do it. Some countries are working to improve conditions around such matters as maternity and paternity leave. This includes giving workers the right to request flex-time once they have had a child. These kinds of considerations are especially important when we consider that it is often women who, as the natural carers within a family, become marginalized by the sometimes unreasonable yet unspoken expectations of a company for its employees to be available to work long, often unpaid hours of overtime.

For countries such as Japan and the UK who are facing the surety of an aging population with all the challenges that brings, considering work-life balance should be an essential strategy in policy-making, especially because happy people tend to be more productive. Giving women more opportunities to return to work after having children could be part of the solution that will help to maintain numbers within the workforce. Recent changes in the working conditions of certain companies in Japan reflect this growing awareness.

Up until about 12 years ago it was common for Japanese companies to recruit (mainly women) for positions known as “ippanshoku” or general administrators. Employees holding these positions generally worked a fixed 9-5 day and were not expected to stay indefinitely every evening as most other employees did. The reasons for companies phasing out ippanshoku positions were many and complex, but could generally be understood as being connected to money. By the early nineties it was becoming clear that the good-time days of the Bubble Economy had gone. Companies needed to tighten their belts and cut costs. At the same time, people were also beginning to feel the pinch and in line with this, many women were voicing dissatisfaction with their lowly status and salary levels. From a financial point of view, doing away with ippanshoku was a way to address these two issues. If women weren't hired then their needs could be ignored. Instead, companies turned to temporary workers to offer administrative support. At first, the idea seemed to bear fruit. Recently however, the Asahi Shimbun has reported a reversal of this policy. Last year saw several large corporations reintroduce ippanshoku positions, albeit to a lesser degree than before and next year many of the large trading houses such as Marubeni have announced that they will follow suit.

There are several reasons contributing to this. Firstly, hiring temps, although seemingly a cost-cutting exercise, actually brought unanticipated, hidden expenses. Having a percentage of the staff in a constant state of flux means an almost continual situation of in-house training exists. This in turn takes regular workers away from their own duties resulting in inefficiency and lower productivity. Secondly, women who are seeking a better work-life balance have found there are advantages to ippanshoku positions. Those companies who are now in the throes of reversing the trend cite one of the strongest selling points of ippanshoku as the fact that employees who hold them are exempt from 'tenkin'. This is the tradition that companies have of sending their employees to whichever city – or even country – it suits them to be in. Such moves are often enforced without any regard for an employee's personal circumstances. Being exempt from tenkin gives a worker peace of mind that there will at least be some level of continuity in their lives – their children will not have to suddenly change schools, for example. While reinstating ippanshoku is only a tiny part of what can be done, it does at least seem to be a move in the right direction.

So what tools can a person wield in an attempt to improve their work-life balance? This is a huge question and one that raises many issues; issues that in turn become hot topics for debate on public chat forums. One disaffected office worker felt that considering something as individual as work-life balance was difficult in a society such as Japan where such matters are often perceived as moving away from deeply-ingrained expectations, both within business and society. He went on to explain that until very recently, it was widely believed in Japan that an employee's worth was measured, not by his or her achievements, but by the amount of effort – and therefore hours – they contributed to the company. For example, someone who worked quickly and efficiently in order to finish on time was not rewarded. Indeed, he felt they were often compared unfavorably with others who were, in reality, far less productive but who gave freely of their time. His final word on the matter was that it was therefore often easier to follow the expected route at the sacrifice of personal choice.

For younger generations, however, this feeling could be changing. With workers now facing a plethora of job opportunities, the issue of work-life balance is fast becoming one that companies can no longer afford to ignore. Acknowledging the reality of an ever-decreasing pool of people to choose from, those organizations that are prepared to begin breaking new ground in their human resource policies will find they have the very best candidates to choose from. People should therefore be encouraged to voice their preferences while companies would do well to lay greater emphasis on employee satisfaction.