Does Cool Biz help or undermine productivity at the workplace?

Wednesday 29th July, 06:14 AM JST

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chuckers at 10:06 AM JST - 29th July

We have a guy in our office (sales) that refuses do Cool Biz so is always done up with a necktie. This means he thinks our office is always hot and he cranks the air con to full blast and 24 degrees (the lowest it will go.) The rest of us are freezing our bajoobies off! The entire day is filled with thermostat wars as he cranks it down while everyone else cranks it back up to livable conditions.
NotJapanese at 10:34 AM JST - 29th July

Not at all.
noborito at 11:38 AM JST - 29th July

Joke, wear a suit to work, in a hot and smelly train, take off your tie, but leave your jacket on, then work all day in a 27 degree office. The contribute to the completely offensive smell. Went to a business meeting the other day and the office was so freaking hot. The meeting room was cool, but the body oder of the people there was incredibly offensive. Japanese always used to say foreigners smelled, man we never smelled this bad. Truly disgusting. Between body oder and tobacco, this county stinks like a sewage drain sometimes.
pawatan at 12:19 PM JST - 29th July

Helps. No tie/no jacket is a huge help on the trains and walking around. Doesn't affect me so much when in the office, though.
LFRAgain at 02:50 PM JST - 29th July

Chuckers,

Sound like someone needs to vote Mr. MeMeMe off the island. I've worked with people like that, sadly. Maybe someone could get some CoolBiz literature from the web, print it out, and tape it to his computer moniter, since it seems he's missing the point of CoolBiz entirely.
nisegaijin at 03:02 PM JST - 29th July

we are casual all year around.

jeans and polo shirt today. Adidas clima-cool sneakers help too!
stirfry at 03:10 PM JST - 29th July

there's no productivity in the japanese workplace to begin with...the lowest productivity levels in the G7 by far...lower than the BRICs as well
thedeath at 03:58 PM JST - 29th July

28C isn't cool. it suck big time!
Speed at 06:35 PM JST - 29th July

Cool Biz is cool, but setting thermostats to 28c isn't. Set it to 25. My office isn't Cool Bizzed and the air conditioner is set to 23. I'd take off my tie for 25 but wouldn't put up with 28 unless I was on a beach with Cool Beer.
papasmurfinjapan at 08:55 AM JST - 30th July

I have to second ultradodgy's comment. "Coolbiz" has nothing to do with making employees more comfortable or happy. The whole concept is an act of "gaman" - set the AC to 28 degrees and sweat it out "for the good of the environment".

The company I used to work for had it set at 28 degrees, but with 30 or so PCs in the room at the same time, the temperature was constantly around 31 degrees in the office. Usually one or two employees would be asleep, and the rest would have glazed eyes and sweat pouring down their faces. "Coolbiz" became "siesta time" because nothing would get done in the office until things got cooler around 6pm, then everyone would stay back until 10pm to do the work they were supposed to do in the afternoon.

Rather than reducing their carbon footprints through coolbiz, I think most employees are making the environment worse by staying at work for longer hours.
chuckers at 10:18 AM JST - 30th July

Sound like someone needs to vote Mr. MeMeMe off the island.

We have told him on numerous occassions that he should be doing Cool Biz. As the head of Sales, he says he doesn't want to look like a slob and keeps his tie on.

So, we all go back to turning the fan down on the air con to low and upping the temp a degree or two when he isn't watching.

People make comments about how pleasant the temperature is when he is out sick.
RandomTask at 04:49 PM JST - 30th July

Cool biz is a nice idea but doesnt really work in reality. Companies should have to pay a suit tax for each employee forced to wear a tie, and extra for a jacket (call it environment tax or something).

Right now I'm teaching in 30 degree classrooms and am not allowed to remove my tie (thankfully I dont have to wear a jacket). Needless to say I'm pretty angry every day I come to work.
Speed at 09:07 PM JST - 30th July

Suit jackets during the summer is also asinine. They're for cool and cold weather.

If there's a very important meeting or you're trying to make a deal/sale with another company, then I think it's good to look be dressed to the nines.

Otherwise, absolutely unnecessary and those that have to wear/carry them in the scorching heat look absolutely miserable.

I keep mine on the back of my chair, just in case I need it. I wear them when it's cold for when they are meant to be worn.
Stereofreak at 06:27 AM JST - 31st July

We all work on regular everyday clothes at my office, and only dress up if we need to see clients/go to formal events. If you're sitting down in front of a computer all day, who cares about what you wear? I've seen my boss parading in flip flops and shorts, and the company's still tripled in size over the last 2 years.

We're also free to come and go as we please, and if you have urgent personal errands (a doctor's appointment, civil bureaucracy, etc.) we can show up late or leave early, no questions asked. Since it's a small office, we all know and trust each other, and no one takes advantage of the system.

Best job I've had so far. Freedom works!
YamadaTaro at 07:06 PM JST - 19th August

Is not enough I think. In my office all office lady only wear pantie and bra but keep high heel. In that case the work is easier for man and easy for lady to put make tea.