日本政府計(jì)劃推廣每周4天工作制，讓員工自行選擇每周休息三天還是兩天，方便員工照顧家庭，改善工作和生活之間的平衡。對此專家們紛紛表達(dá)了自己的擔(dān)憂。

Japan's government plans to encourage firms to let their employees choose to work four days a week instead of five, aiming to improve the balance between work and life for people who have family care responsibilities or need more time off to acquire new skills.

日本政府計(jì)劃鼓勵(lì)企業(yè)讓員工選擇每周工作四天，目的是為那些有家庭護(hù)理責(zé)任或需要更多業(yè)余時(shí)間來學(xué)習(xí)新技能的人改善工作和生活之間的平衡。

The government included the promotion of an optional four-day workweek in its annual economic policy guideline finalized Friday by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's cabinet.

日本政府在上周五（6月18日）由首相菅義偉的內(nèi)閣敲定的年度經(jīng)濟(jì)政策指導(dǎo)方針中將推廣選擇性的每周四天工作制包括在內(nèi)。

Experts are divided, however, on whether the new initiative, intended to address challenges posed by the country's labor shortage, will be widely accepted, with labor and management both voicing concerns about possible unwanted outcomes.

雖然這項(xiàng)新舉措意在解決日本面臨的勞動(dòng)力短缺挑戰(zhàn)，但是勞資雙方均對該舉措可能導(dǎo)致的后果表示擔(dān)憂，因此，專家對該舉措能否被廣泛接受也存在分歧。

For employers, while people working four days a week may become more motivated, this may not improve their productivity enough to compensate for the lost workday. Employees, meanwhile, fear pay cuts.

對于雇主來說，雖然每周工作四天會(huì)讓員工更有動(dòng)力，但由此提高的生產(chǎn)力可能不足以彌補(bǔ)失去的工作日。與此同時(shí)，員工也擔(dān)心降薪。

Among expected advantages are helping people with family-care responsibilities avoid the need to quit their jobs, promotion of recurrent education, and helping more people take on side jobs, the government said.

日本政府指出，預(yù)期好處包括讓有家庭護(hù)理責(zé)任的人可以免于辭職，促進(jìn)員工再教育，也可以幫助更多的人從事兼職。

The coronavirus pandemic has helped the idea of a four-day workweek gain traction as the health crisis causes people to spend more time at home.

疫情危機(jī)導(dǎo)致人們有更多的時(shí)間待在家里，因此每周四天工作制的想法也越來越受歡迎。

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party said working fewer days is expected to promote "diversified working styles" and prompt workers with new skills to move to growing industries such as IT.

日本執(zhí)政的自民黨表示，減少工作天數(shù)有望促進(jìn)“多樣化的工作方式”，并促使有新技能的員工轉(zhuǎn)入信息技術(shù)等增長行業(yè)。

At a key economic and fiscal policy panel meeting in mid-April where the promotion of a four-day workweek was discussed, Suga said his government would consider expanding support for people willing to enhance their careers through recurrent education without leaving their jobs.

菅義偉在四月中旬的經(jīng)濟(jì)和財(cái)政政策委員會(huì)重要會(huì)議上討論推進(jìn)每周四天工作制時(shí)指出，政府將考慮加大對員工接受在職教育的支持。

Among major economies, Australian, Canadian, Italian and US employees work longer hours than Japanese, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's survey. But Japan's labor market remains rigid, with productivity showing limited improvement as people take fewer holidays compared to other developed countries and labor mobility stays low.

根據(jù)經(jīng)濟(jì)合作與發(fā)展組織的調(diào)查，在主要經(jīng)濟(jì)體中，澳大利亞、加拿大、意大利和美國雇員的工作時(shí)間都比日本的長。但日本的勞動(dòng)力市場仍然僵化，生產(chǎn)效率提升有限，因?yàn)榕c其他發(fā)達(dá)國家相比，日本人的假期更少，勞動(dòng)力的流動(dòng)性保持在較低水平。

Internet and e-commerce service giant Yahoo Japan Corp started allowing its employees who need more time off for caregiving to take three days off a week in April 2017.

互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和電子商務(wù)服務(wù)巨頭雅虎日本公司于2017年4月開始允許需要更多時(shí)間來照顧家人的員工每周休息三天。

"It has been favorably received in general, with some employees saying that it became easier to match their days off with their children's activities," a Yahoo Japan spokesman said.

雅虎日本的一位發(fā)言人稱：“此舉在總體上得到了好評(píng)，一些員工表示，增加的休息日更便于他們安排親子活動(dòng)?！?/p>

Meanwhile, Hisashi Yamada, vice chairman of think tank Japan Research Institute, said he does not expect a four-day workweek to rapidly spread in Japan even with the government pushing it because it would complicate personnel management and evaluation.

與此同時(shí)，智囊機(jī)構(gòu)日本總合研究所的副所長山田久表示，即使有政府的助推，他認(rèn)為每周四天工作制也不會(huì)在日本迅速普及，因?yàn)檫@種工作制會(huì)讓人事管理和績效考核變得更復(fù)雜。

"Let's say, if employees take second jobs, it would be difficult for managers to know how long they work in total and to evaluate equally those who take two days off a week and those who take three. From the employees' standpoint, they would not want to see their income from their main jobs decrease," said Yamada, who is well versed in labor economics issues.

深諳勞動(dòng)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)問題的山田指出：“打個(gè)比方，如果員工打了第二份工，主管將難以了解他們的工作總時(shí)長，也無法給一周休兩天和一周休三天的員工打一樣的績效分。從員工的立場來看，他們也不樂意看到自己的主要工作收入減少?！?/p>

At Yahoo Japan and many other firms offering an option of fewer workdays, extra holidays are unpaid. The Yahoo Japan spokesman said just about 100 of some 7,000 employees at the company had applied for the four-day workweek as of April.

在雅虎日本和許多其他可以選擇更少工作日的公司，額外的假期是無薪的。雅虎日本的發(fā)言人稱，截至四月份，該公司的7000名員工中只有約100人申請了每周四天的工作制。

Japan Research's Yamada said he believes some small- and medium-sized businesses cannot afford to give such extra days off, and some businesses might try to cut labor costs by applying a four-day workweek even to employees who want to work more days.

日本總合研究所的山田表示，他認(rèn)為一些中小型企業(yè)負(fù)擔(dān)不起這種額外的休息日，一些企業(yè)可能會(huì)試圖通過全員實(shí)行每周四天工作制來削減勞動(dòng)力成本，即使某些員工不愿意減少工作天數(shù)。

"It will be important for the government to draw up a framework guaranteeing a worker's right to choose whether to take three days off a week," he said.

他說：“政府應(yīng)制定一個(gè)政策框架，保證員工有權(quán)選擇是否每周休息三天，這一點(diǎn)很重要?！?/p>

Takuya Hoshino, an economist at the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, says simply introducing a four-day workweek may not necessarily encourage employees to use their time off in a way that benefits their careers or contributes to the economy.

第一生命研究所的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家星野卓也稱，簡單地引入每周四天的工作制不一定能鼓勵(lì)員工以有利于他們的職業(yè)或促進(jìn)經(jīng)濟(jì)的方式來利用額外的休息時(shí)間。

"It's important for companies to make it clear what they intend in adopting such a system" and provide necessary support to employees to that end, he said.

他指出，“重要的是，公司要明確他們采用這種制度的意圖”，并為此向員工提供必要的支持。

英文來源：Japan Today

翻譯&編輯：丹妮