Tokyo to introduce 4-day work week option for government officials starting 2025

Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike announced that metropolitan government employees will have the option of a four-day work week starting April 2025.

She said so at the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly's Dec. 3 session.

According to Mainichi Shimbun, the current system requires employees to work 155 hours in four weeks.

However it has a flexible time system, where employees get to choose their workdays. This allows employees to take a weekday off once every four weeks.

The new system starting next April will let employees take one weekday off per week.

During the assembly, Koike brought up how flexible work is important, especially for women.

According to The Japan Times, Koike said:

"We will continue to review work styles flexibly to ensure that women do not have to sacrifice their careers due to life events such as childbirth or child-rearing."

Along with the four-day work week, the governor also announced a new “child care partial leave" system, which will let employees reduce their working hours by up to two hours per day.

Tokyo is not the first prefecture to introduce the four-day work week.

Other prefectures that have adopted or are planning to start the four-day work week include Ibaraki Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, Iwate Prefecture, and Miyagi Prefecture.

Singapore

Over in Singapore, employers are less inclined to implement a four-day work week.

In a recent survey done by the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) between Sep. 30 and Oct. 7, 2024, 95 per cent of employers said they would not adopt a four-day work week across their organisation.

In another survey done in 2023, one in three Singaporean workers expect a four-day work week to become the norm within the next five years.  

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