日本政府計劃推廣每週4天工作制，讓員工自行選擇每週休息三天還是兩天，方便員工照顧家庭，改善工作和生活之間的平衡。對此專家們紛紛表達了自己的擔憂。

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Japan's government plans to encourage firms to let their employees choose to work four days a week instead of five, aiming to improve the balance between work and life for people who have family care responsibilities or need more time off to acquire new skills.

日本政府計劃鼓勵企業讓員工選擇每週工作四天，目的是爲那些有家庭護理責任或需要更多業餘時間來學習新技能的人改善工作和生活之間的平衡。

The government included the promotion of an optional four-day workweek in its annual economic policy guideline finalized Friday by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's cabinet.

日本政府在上週五（6月18日）由首相菅義偉的內閣敲定的年度經濟政策指導方針中將推廣選擇性的每週四天工作制包括在內。

Experts are divided, however, on whether the new initiative, intended to address challenges posed by the country's labor shortage, will be widely accepted, with labor and management both voicing concerns about possible unwanted outcomes.

然而，專家們對這一旨在應對國家勞動力短缺所帶來的挑戰的新舉措是否會被廣泛接受存在分歧，勞工和管理層都對可能出現的後果表示擔憂。

For employers, while people working four days a week may become more motivated, this may not improve their productivity enough to compensate for the lost workday. Employees, meanwhile, fear pay cuts.

對於僱主來說，雖然每週工作四天會讓員工更有動力，但由此提高的生產力可能不足以彌補失去的工作日。與此同時，員工也擔心降薪。

Among expected advantages are helping people with family-care responsibilities avoid the need to quit their jobs, promotion of recurrent education, and helping more people take on side jobs, the government said.

日本政府指出，預期好處包括讓有家庭護理責任的人可以免於辭職，促進員工再教育，也可以幫助更多的人從事兼職。

The coronavirus pandemic has helped the idea of a four-day workweek gain traction as the health crisis causes people to spend more time at home.

疫情危機導致人們有更多的時間待在家裏，因此每週四天工作制的想法也越來越受歡迎。

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party said working fewer days is expected to promote "diversified working styles" and prompt workers with new skills to move to growing industries such as IT.

日本執政的自民黨表示，減少工作天數有望促進“多樣化的工作方式”，並促使有新技能的員工轉入信息技術等增長行業。

At a key economic and fiscal policy panel meeting in mid-April where the promotion of a four-day workweek was discussed, Suga said his government would consider expanding support for people willing to enhance their careers through recurrent education without leaving their jobs.

菅義偉在四月中旬的經濟和財政政策委員會重要會議上討論推進每週四天工作制時指出，政府將考慮加大對員工接受在職教育的支持。

Among major economies, Australian, Canadian, Italian and US employees work longer hours than Japanese, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's survey. But Japan's labor market remains rigid, with productivity showing limited improvement as people take fewer holidays compared to other developed countries and labor mobility stays low.

根據經濟合作與發展組織的調查，在主要經濟體中，澳大利亞、加拿大、意大利和美國僱員的工作時間都比日本的長。但日本的勞動力市場仍然僵化，生產效率提升有限，因爲與其他發達國家相比，日本人的假期更少，勞動力的流動性保持在較低水平。

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Internet and e-commerce service giant Yahoo Japan Corp started allowing its employees who need more time off for caregiving to take three days off a week in April 2017.

互聯網和電子商務服務巨頭雅虎日本公司於2017年4月開始允許需要更多時間來照顧家人的員工每週休息三天。

"It has been favorably received in general, with some employees saying that it became easier to match their days off with their children's activities," a Yahoo Japan spokesman said.

雅虎日本的一位發言人稱：“此舉在總體上得到了好評，一些員工表示，增加的休息日更便於他們安排親子活動。”

Meanwhile, Hisashi Yamada, vice chairman of think tank Japan Research Institute, said he does not expect a four-day workweek to rapidly spread in Japan even with the government pushing it because it would complicate personnel management and evaluation.

與此同時，智囊機構日本總合研究所的副所長山田久表示，即使有政府的助推，他認爲每週四天工作制也不會在日本迅速普及，因爲這種工作制會讓人事管理和績效考覈變得更復雜。

"Let's say, if employees take second jobs, it would be difficult for managers to know how long they work in total and to evaluate equally those who take two days off a week and those who take three. From the employees' standpoint, they would not want to see their income from their main jobs decrease," said Yamada, who is well versed in labor economics issues.

深諳勞動經濟學問題的山田指出：“打個比方，如果員工打了第二份工，主管將難以瞭解他們的工作總時長，也無法給一週休兩天和一週休三天的員工打一樣的績效分。從員工的立場來看，他們也不樂意看到自己的主要工作收入減少。”

At Yahoo Japan and many other firms offering an option of fewer workdays, extra holidays are unpaid. The Yahoo Japan spokesman said just about 100 of some 7,000 employees at the company had applied for the four-day workweek as of April.

在雅虎日本和許多其他可以選擇更少工作日的公司，額外的假期是無薪的。雅虎日本的發言人稱，截至四月份，該公司的7000名員工中只有約100人申請了每週四天的工作制。

Japan Research's Yamada said he believes some small- and medium-sized businesses cannot afford to give such extra days off, and some businesses might try to cut labor costs by applying a four-day workweek even to employees who want to work more days.

日本總合研究所的山田表示，他認爲一些中小型企業負擔不起這種額外的休息日，一些企業可能會試圖通過全員實行每週四天工作制來削減勞動力成本，即使某些員工不願意減少工作天數。

"It will be important for the government to draw up a framework guaranteeing a worker's right to choose whether to take three days off a week," he said.

他說：“政府應制定一個政策框架，保證員工有權選擇是否每週休息三天，這一點很重要。”

Takuya Hoshino, an economist at the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, says simply introducing a four-day workweek may not necessarily encourage employees to use their time off in a way that benefits their careers or contributes to the economy.

第一生命研究所的經濟學家星野卓也稱，簡單地引入每週四天的工作制不一定能鼓勵員工以有利於他們的職業或促進經濟的方式來利用額外的休息時間。

"It's important for companies to make it clear what they intend in adopting such a system" and provide necessary support to employees to that end, he said.

他指出，“重要的是，公司要明確他們採用這種制度的意圖”，併爲此向員工提供必要的支持。

英文來源：Japan Today

翻譯&編輯：丹妮

來源：中國日報網

來源：中國日報網