Remote workers in Japan get more sleep

This is according to a recent Japanese government white paper, which showed that employees tend to feel depressed or anxious if they get less sleep. The fiscal 2022 white paper on the prevention of death by overwork was adopted at a recent cabinet meeting. 

Remote work reduces the physical and mental burden, as it eliminates the need for commuting and gives people more time to spend at home, experts said. 

“Telework has various merits,” a labour ministry official said of the results of the remote work survey shown in the annual paper. Like many other countries, remote work has spread in Japan following the pandemic.

According to the survey, the proportion of people who sleep for six hours or more a day on average was the highest among respondents who work remotely every day, standing at 66%. The lowest rate was 54%, for those who do not work remotely at all.

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The share of people who think they are happy is higher among those working remotely about one to three days a week than those who do not work remotely at all and those working remotely every day. 

Balancing remote work with occasional work at the office to interact with co-workers is important, experts said.  The survey covered 10,000 people across the nation, reported Jiji Press.