The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will allow its staff to work a four-day week as authorities in the world’s largest city begin a radical experiment to reverse Japan’s low birth rate.
The programme, which adds Tokyo to a growing global movement among local and central governments to embrace the “four-on, three-off” approach to work-life balance, comes as Japan’s population is on track for its 16th consecutive year of decline.
The Tokyo government’s project, which will begin in April 2025, lets employees adjust their working hours to completely free up one day of their choice each week. The project is set to benefit tens of thousands of city government employees.