Why did work style reform begin?
1,Aging population
The current population of Japan is said to be 126.14 million (as of October 1, 1980). This population is the largest in the world. However, the current population of the Japanese population is decreasing year by year, and there are projections that the total population will be less than 100 million by 2055 . The problem is that not only is the population declining, but the elderly are increasing and the children (future workers) are decreasing . Currently, the percentage of those 65 and older in Japan is 28.1% (as of October 1, 1980). And there are predictions that the age of one in three Japanese to be elderly is about to come. Also, the number of children decreased for 38 consecutive years and the aging of the population is steadily progressing.
The declining birthrate and aging society's impact on the workforce is that fewer workers reduce the workforce and require more people to work more efficiently. There is also the danger that Japan's economy will be hindered.
-Reference: Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Japan's population-
2,Harsh working environment found
In recent years, the number of people committing suicide due to long working hours in Japan has increased, and the movement to correct long working hours has become noticeable. Until 2011, the number of suicides caused by one of the work problems was increasing. However, it has been decreasing since 2011.
。It is not a matter of saying that it is on a downward trend. As can be seen from the graph, nearly 90% of suicides have recently committed suicide due to work problems.
Reference: Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare PDF
In recent years, Japan's long working hours have become a problem for the international community. For example, in 2013, the United Nations called for “correction of long working hours and overwork death”.
3,Cannot catch up with other countries
Japan used to be the world's economic leader a long time ago. However, in recent years it has been lagging the world . Japan is the lowest consecutive year in the seven major labor productivity countries (France, US, UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada) . In other words, The situation that has worked a lot but the economy is not running at all has continued for 47 years .
Created with reference to the data of OECD
If this was not the case, starting to tackle this problem also triggered the spread of work style reform. I thought that working efficiently could lead to an increase in labor productivity.
