Uniqlo to try 4-day work week from October

Awesome idea, I hope they roll this out for office workers.

Western economies are built on the consumer society, so we need to give people time off to enjoy their lives and develop hobbies and interests.

WIN! May the rest of Japan copy them.

I've always been a proponent of a 4 day work week. Three days off a week is almost half the week spending time with the family and/or doing what you want. Great to have this choice! Kudos to Uniqlo.

Great! Three days off per week to spend your monthly wages of ￥180,000, or whatever paltry sum Uniqlo pays its staff.

Wow! I tried to do the same thing 30 years ago, but was scoffed at. Sadly though, most company employees in Japan are on an open salary that does not stipulate the maximum working hours per week. Of course, there is a 'guideline' of 40 hours per week, but most people are doing at least 50-60 hours a week in the office.

Will this opportunity be extended to the slaves, sorry "employees" of its Bangladeshi sub-contractors? Some of them would probably jump at the opportunity of 10 hours a day, instead of the current 18.

Three days off per week to spend your monthly wages of ￥180,000, or whatever paltry sum Uniqlo pays its staff.

Minimum annual salary for an entry-level 21-year-old is ¥3.219 million, according to Uniqlo's own figures. The average for a 28 year old supervisor/store manager is ¥8.355 million.

http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2141295755164929501

I wouldn't like to work this way, I like my job and am happy to work six days a week. Besides, I wouldn't know what to do with a three-day weekend every week. You lose your work rhythm. I'm happy enough when a national holiday falls on a Monday. That's enough for me.

That's such an awesome idea. It would alleviate stress so damn much, as well as likely spur consumer activities as people will be out shopping, traveling, playing, etc. on the weekend Friday. This surely must be better than the current terrible 5/2

Minimum annual salary for an entry-level 21-year-old is ¥3.219 million, according to Uniqlo's own figures.

Unfortunately those full-time staff and salaries make up a minute portion of their workforce. My main girl worked at a Uniqlo last year, so I just asked her about her experience. She said they had only 3 "regular" employees.....and 50+ part-timers.

Uniqlo's job website which lists jobs at ¥800/hr:

https://uniqlo-staff.jp/jobfind-pc/area/KyushuOkinawa/Okinawa

Of course, costs of living are low here but even the Kansai page lists jobs at only ¥1000/hr, or less than ¥2M annually. https://uniqlo-staff.jp/jobfind-pc/job/Kansai/2397

Having personally worked at Uniqlo before on a 4 day work week during my "What the heck else can I do here besides teaching Era", I'd like to think I can take a little credit for this.

Thank you, thank you, the applause isn't necessary...

Noble - It doesn't seem the proposed 4-day week would apply to part-time staff anyway.

The program will be available to approximately 10,000 of the company’s 54,000 full-time employees

Unfortunately those full-time staff and salaries make up a minute portion of their workforce. My main girl worked at a Uniqlo last year, so I just asked her about her experience. She said they had only 3 "regular" employees.....and 50+ part-timers.

If it is only a minute part of their staff then Uniqlo must have what 500,000 employees or more, using the bottom figure as a sample guide.

The program will be available to approximately 10,000 of the company’s 54,000 full-time employees

Which 10,000 matters quite a bit, if it's those in management positions Uniqlo is playing games with the PR.

"I like my job and am happy to work six days a week"

You are a minority. I'm happy working 5 day, 50 hour weeks, but would be even happier if it were 40 hour weeks.

A welcome and civilized move by Uniqlo, and social;y very resposnsible.

BrainiacAUG. 21, 2015 - 06:08PM JST

I wouldn't like to work this way, I like my job and am happy to work six days a week. Besides, I wouldn't know what to do with a three-day weekend every week. You lose your work rhythm. I'm happy enough when a national holiday falls on a Monday. That's enough for me.

Well, if you really like working, I'm sure you can find a way to fill the hole with a part time job. Plus, you can ditch that job when you change your mind.

I think an absolute max hours would be best. The employees could work with the scheduler. 35 hours absolute max. Less hours means more employees can work. Since salaried, employees don't become impoverished. Or how about people work until their job is done? Update balance sheet and log 3000 entries in spreadsheet. Done in 4-5 hours. Going home...

"I wouldn't know what to do with a three-day weekend every week. You lose your work rhythm."

Are you kidding? 4 days on ( meaning having to endure packed trains/buses just 4 days, not 5 days ), and 3 days off, with the chance to spend 2 nights on a get-away trip. I could get into that rhythm in a New York minute.

Which 10,000 matters quite a bit, if it's those in management positions Uniqlo is playing games with the PR.

In Japan it's more likely that the managers would be the ones who are not eligible.

Fast Retailing Co, which operates clothing company Uniqlo, will begin a four-day work week at its 840 stores in Japan on an experimental basis from October.

Shows how stuck in the past Japan Inc really is, that this is even news. This kind of scheduling has been the norm in many western countries/firms for over two decades now.

Ok, before you gals and guys all start applauding their move, the way I understood it from the Japanese News is that their off-days will be on weekdays (100%), different than before, maybe not even in a row, but more like as it fits the shop's schedule. It sounded more that there are enough staff on hand anyway weekdays. And how long will the break be? I think by law it would be 90 min. That would make a full day than, except maybe in busy city centers with longer opening times.

The 4-10 schedule. Worked that shift for about 5 yrs with Fri~Sun off. It was awesome.

Glad to see Uniqlo initiating a little change in the japan's workforce.

Great plan. Japanese people,more than most, deserve a good chunk of time off to de-stress.

This is experimental only and I highly doubt it will work provided that most Japanese employees overwork 5 days/week at the very least. 4 days per week would lead to lower productivity and lower profits. Japan Inc would sink, especially with China's massive yuan devaluation.

I gotta agree with noble here. uniqlo is widely known to employ a large workforce of part-timers. the data in this article is dubious at best. 54,000 full-time employees? that would mean each store has an average of 64 full-time employees. does that make sense? they would be losing money hand over fist with that high of an overhead.

I'd be interested to know if they're usually working 8-hour weekdays. If more than that, then that 4-day work week might end up being more than 10 hours a day in practice.

Overall, this might not be a bad idea and one that other companies might want to emulate. Giving employees that extra day off helps with morale. Who knows, if this catches on and becomes widespread practice it might even help the country's flagging birth rate.

I highly doubt it will work provided that most Japanese employees overwork 5 days/week at the very least. 4 days per week would lead to lower productivity and lower profits. Japan Inc would sink, especially with China's massive yuan devaluation.

The change in value of the yuan to the yen has been pretty negligible.

These numbers account for approx 1/5 of the full time workforce in a company with one of the highest staff turnover rates in Japan and appalling rates of pay for part timers. Only in the UK with a one in four on zero hours contracts does productivity reach rock bottom.

A 4-day week with longer days might be welcomed by singles, but working parents would probably have trouble juggling longer hours with child care/school.

Understand Uniqlo are introducing flexible hours too, which should come some way to improving staff retention.

they can do this because of the slave labour they have in asian countries making the dirt cheap clothing. while this is great for big profits allowing your retail staff to benifit, it doesnt really help the people who actaully do the real work.

"Fast Retailing Co, which operates clothing company Uniqlo, will begin a four-day work week at its 840 stores in Japan on an experimental basis from October.

The program will be available to approximately 10,000 of the company’s 54,000 full-time employees"

I gotta gree with nakanoguy, this is dubious. 54,000 divided by 840 is about 64. So an average of 64 full-timers per store, according to this, right? Doesn't make sense...

The human mind and body has its limits. We need hobbies, relationships, leisure, and family time. The result is a more balanced and productive worker. So, this is a great practice.

However, as was already highlighted above, let's hope this doesn't mean they have to work extra long hours on the remaining 4-days per week to make up for it.

they can do this because of the slave labour they have in asian countries

Every year I buy a new NFL cap featuring the classic team logo in a new design. I pay up to $25~35 bucks. Wonder how much that Bangladeshi gets?

Wc626: "Every year I buy a new NFL cap featuring the classic team logo in a new design. I pay up to $25~35 bucks. Wonder how much that Bangladeshi gets?"

For that price it should be made in America with well paid union workers. Sports associations sure know how to squeeze a profit ($24~34 profit, $1 for Bangladeshi slave labour).

A 4-day week with longer days might be welcomed by singles, but working parents would probably have trouble juggling longer hours with child care/school.

Working parents are already working ten hour days on a five day schedule and sometimes even a six day schedule. Those at Uniqlo that are a part of this program basically are a getting full day back without a pay cut. Why is Uniqlo doing this, to eliminate turnover which no doubt is high currently. Yanai-san did the math and having a more stable work force working fewer hours is cheaper than paying less with the high retraining costs and lower productivity of an unstable staff. He is applying the Costco model and dumping the Walmart model. Also, no doubt, hiring is getting harder in Japan with the reduction of the workforce due to population decline.