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Japanese employees ‘uncomfortable’ with taking leave as hardworking ethic remains strong
- Across the age groups of workers, only a small minority have used up all their annual paid leave, according to a survey
- The unwillingness of Japanese employees to take leave stems from a long-standing collective work ethic, a business owner says
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Less than 19 per cent of Japanese employees use up all their annual paid leave, according to a new study, despite the government’s efforts to encourage them to take their full holiday allowance.
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The survey conducted in July by Tokyo-based human resources company Staff Service showed around 19 per cent of Generation Z employees, between 18 and 27 years old, took their full holiday allowance, with the figure falling to 18 per cent for the 28-to-42 millennial generation age group.
Vacation uptake hit a low of 16 per cent for workers aged between 43 and 52, the group who joined the workforce at a time that is referred to as the “employment ice age” immediately after Japan’s economic bubble burst in 1990.
Even for workers who were the most likely to use up all their paid holidays – aged between 53 and 62 and commonly referred to as Japan’s “bubble generation” – the figure was only 22.6 per cent.
In comparison, some 17 per cent of workers across all age groups took no annual paid leave from their companies, while 57 per cent of workers said they took around half of their entitlement.
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