Yahoo Finance Japan tells workers to stay home to fight crowds
London commuters are familiar with packed Tube carriages but Japan’s government is hoping to nix the problem.
Thousands of employees in Tokyo have been urged to work from home today to try to ease overcrowding on the transport system.
The campaign, called Telework Day, was launched by the Japanese government to help authorities plan for the 2020 Olympics.
It is designed to take the pressure off capital’s notoriously busy metro system —which serves 35 million passengers in the greater Tokyo area — during the games.
Around 1000 companies are taking part, including Lucozade and Ribena owner Suntory.
The day marks the first of several test runs of the plan.
Around 60,000 workers were encouraged to work remotely until mid-morning as part of the experiment, orchestrated by the ministry of economy, trade, and industry.
The Japanese are hoping to mimic changes to work patterns in London during the 2012 Olympics, which allowed people more flexible working to ease overcrowding.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has attempted to reform Japan’s rigid labour practices.
The government has launched Premium Friday, a campaign to encourage companies to let workers go home at 3pm one Friday each month.
