February 3, 2023
Keio University
Professor Toshihiro Okubo of the Keio University Faculty of Economics has been periodically conducting a large-scale survey on telework and the work, lives, and attitudes of workers in Japan amid the spread of COVID-19 since April 2020, when the pandemic began to spread. This is the eighth "Survey on the Realities of Telework among Workers," a large-scale nationwide survey of 10,000 workers conducted as a joint research project with the National Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA).
According to the preliminary results of the 8th survey, the nationwide telework utilization rate has remained generally flat since June 2020, reaching 15% (24% in the Tokyo metropolitan area) as of December 2022. While there has been no significant change in the telework utilization rate, the work efficiency of teleworkers was found to have improved significantly since the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey also examined gig work, which involves working on a one-off or short-term basis without an employment contract. It found that while only a limited 4% of respondents have experience with gig work, the figure rises to 30% when including those who plan or wish to do it, indicating a high level of interest. Job changes are common among young people, low-income earners, those in professional and technical occupations, and teleworkers, but the lack of mobility among the senior workforce is likely to become an issue.
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