Japanese Trimming Work Week: More Japanese companies...

Japanese Trimming Work Week: More Japanese companies have switched to a five-day work week as the country moves to erase its workaholic image, a Labor Ministry survey found. The nationwide survey of 5,000 companies with more than 3,000 employees showed that 58.4% have switched to a five-day week, more than five percentage points higher than a year ago. The number of workers benefiting from the shorter work week increased 2.8 percentage points in the same period to 82.7%. According to the survey, an average Japanese worker spends 41 hours 12 minutes a week at his or her office, 16 minutes less than in 1989.