Japanese tech startups testing cash incentives for office return
- Reference: 1701104472
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/11/27/japanese_tech_startups_testing_cash/
- Source link:
Citing [1]mental health concerns said to come from the isolation of working from home, Osaka-based Agileware, a project management software company, and Nagoya-headquartered privacy tech firm Acompany have both started offering limited allowances for employees who shift their mostly remote work to a hybrid model, though the payments aren't large.
Agileware says it is offering employees ¥2,000 (roughly $13 or £11) for every day they show up to the workplace, while Acompany has decided to award developers and those who "handle other tasks" ¥1,000 for showing up after lunch for a half day of in-office work, Nikkei Asia [2]reports .
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Agileware is also offering employees an extra ¥500 ($3.30, £2.66) to go out to lunch with their colleagues, though both bonuses are reportedly limited to 10 days a month and require four hours to be spent in the office. That's a cool $168 (£133) if employees take full advantage of the monthly deal - not a lot, but it might pay for meals out while giving employees a bit of face time together and, perhaps, a mental health boost.
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"We thought that it was necessary for employees to meet face-to-face and have opportunities to sense each other's work troubles and health conditions," Agileware CEO Mitsuyoshi Kawabata told Nikkei.
Meanwhile, in the western world
Companies in the US and Europe haven't taken such an employee-focused approach to post-pandemic return-to-office initiatives, with many large tech companies simply issuing mandates with little in the way of positive reinforcement.
Amazon has [6]threatened employees with stifled career advancement if they don't start conforming to in-office work mandates after [7]requiring employees to be on-prem three days a week starting this past May; IBM has made [8]similar threats. Meta, meanwhile, has imposed similar in-office work [9]requirements on its employees over a perceived loss of productivity among remote workers.
Even Zoom, thrust into the limelight during COVID remote work mandates, has decided anyone living within 80km (50 miles) of an office would have to start coming in [10]two days a week , and opened a new office - excuse us, "engagement hub" - to ensure workers in London were within the radius of requirement.
[11]As TikTok surveils staff's office hours, research indicates WFH is good for planet
[12]Bosses failing to offer hybrid work lose out in recruitment
[13]Come work at HQ... or find a new job, Roblox CEO tells staff
[14]Dropbox drops bucks to ditch digs in long-term WFH model
Although justifications for return-to-office mandates vary, one oft-repeated mantra (whether it's the real reason [15]or not ) is that workers are more innovative when together, and of course managers like to be able to see that [16]workers are working .
The narrative surrounding remote work has changed several times over the past three years: Even up to the present reports on the effectiveness of remote workers vary. It's easy to find studies that say remote workers are [17]more productive , with increased hours worked and less distraction.
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On the flip side, [19]other studies claim remote workers are less productive, but not necessarily due to slacking off - collaborating remotely means writing more emails, slower responses from folks who might traditionally be a cubicle away, and less feedback and mentoring that could improve performance.
Teams of employees, like developers working on the same project, are simply more productive when they're working side-by-side, such studies and their advocates argue. That said, mandating a return to the office hasn't gone over well with workers, who've roundly [20]rejected such requirements and said they'd prefer a [21]gentler approach than "come back or else."
We have to ask: Would a small cash allowance motivate El Reg readers to return to the in-person fold, or is there little your employer could do to make you want to ditch the sweats for slacks?
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Tell us in the comments. ®
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[1] https://socialsciences.nature.com/posts/the-poisoned-chalice-is-our-passion-for-remote-work-negatively-impacting-our-mental-health
[2] https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Work/Japan-s-post-COVID-reality-Paying-workers-to-come-to-the-office
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZWUflnqefnAmQfGrrsTZiwAAAAQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZWUflnqefnAmQfGrrsTZiwAAAAQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZWUflnqefnAmQfGrrsTZiwAAAAQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/15/amazon_in_person_mandate/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/20/amazon_mandates_return_to_office/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/04/working_home_ibm/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/02/meta_return_to_office_mandate/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/11/zoom_london_office/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/20/is_wfh_good_for_planet_ask_tik_tok/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/01/gartner_hybrid_work/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/18/relocate_to_our_hq_or/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/23/dropbox_shrinks_hq/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/03/remote_work_real_estate_values/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/23/microsoft_highlights_productivity_paranoia/
[17] https://thehill.com/business/4110598-remote-employees-work-longer-and-harder-studies-show/
[18] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZWUflnqefnAmQfGrrsTZiwAAAAQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[19] https://www.npr.org/2023/08/04/1192246138/the-evidence-on-remote-work-is-changing
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/15/wfh_pulled_quit_survey/
[21] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/29/wfh_rto_survey/
[22] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZWUflnqefnAmQfGrrsTZiwAAAAQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[23] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
It would have to be a fucktonne of a sweetner
In my case it would have to cover 15* hours a week, plus the fuel, wear & tear and depreciation.
Whereas I generously don't charge for WFH heat and light.
The contrary to all this, is that WFH/flexible working is for most employees a pay rise.
*the commute is actually 10 hours, but you need to get up at least 30 minutes earlier.
Re: It would have to be a fucktonne of a sweetner
I generously don't charge my company for Weetabix and bicycle tyre wear - do I get a prize?
It would have to be a short commute to cover the fares and commute time paid at NMW.
I feel as if middle management is crapping themselves
Hands up if you feel you get more done at home, are more productive when you don't have to be in endless ego massage meetings, and can manage your own time and resources so don't need some middling manager failing at being a helicopter parent.
I reckon most of the noise is being made by these people as the pandemic has demonstrated exactly how important most of them are to the day to day functioning of the business. Now, if only they can get everybody back into the office to argue over who has the stapler, they can go back to feeling like their value justifies their salary...
I seem to remember that my company gave the office workers a small bump ($1,200/yr) with the intent of helping offset the costs of commuting to the office. That was a while ago, maybe back around May 2022?
They've forgotten to nag us about it when they remind us of the 3-days per week in-office policy. They do manage to bring up the policy occasionally, but don't dwell on it, and don't seem intent on enforcing it either. They may have already captured enough data from when they did attempt to enforce it and large chunks of groups immediately departed. The feeling is that Execs and HR are reserving the right to bring down the hammer at some point but they must be just smart enough to not do it.
I'll be honest....
This is all pretty much old news now in general. In a bit tired of it all, the back and forth of it.
Ultimately one side will win, and it won't be the employee. I also would argue that very, very few people can retain motivation or enthusiasm for a job and keep productivity high when WFH constantly.
An office mix is good. I generally get a day a week WFH which is fine and a bit of a treat that really breaks the week up. Or if there's lots of meetings scheduled, we just do it from home (all meetings are on Teams due to company spread).
My company told everyone to come in two days a week but didn't say which days so people come all the way into the office and still wind up having to sit on conference calls because their days aren't the same as the rest. If employers could pull their finger out and say you must be in for these specific days a week then fine, but this half arsed approach is the worst of both worlds; spend money commuting to come into a mostly empty office for crap coffee and still be subjected to MS Teams.
Sign me up
Extra money for the option I prefer anyway? Sign me up!