London: Corporate agenda seems to have
made its way from the boardroom to the bedroom as Japanese are
being asked by their employers to knock off early for "family
time" in a bid to reverse the country's low birth rate.
Even amid the worst economic recession in generations,
Japan’s biggest and most austere banking group, Mitsubishi
UFJ, is telling its staff to knock off early. In a round-robin
e-mail for its employees, the bank said the national birthrate
is low, so let’s all enjoy "family time".
"The company is constantly telling us to do things,
but I think this is the first time the corporate agenda has
made its way to the bedroom," a woman, who works on the bank’s
Tokyo trading floor, was quoted as saying by The Times
newspaper today.
"I’m not sure how many more babies will be conceived
this week, but the bar next door to the headquarters should do
well," she added.
However, MUFJ is taking the campaign seriously. The
unambiguous note of encouragement heralded Mitsubishi UFJ’s
week-long effort to push the national campaign to help reverse
Japan’s ultra-low fertility rates and declining population.
The management’s idea, the woman said, seemed to be
that by getting everyone out of the office by 5.10 PM, rather
than the 7 PM that most staff were used to, couples would be
reunited earlier after work, passion would not be crushed by
exhaustion and Japan’s chronic population decline would be
reversed.
At only 1.3 per cent in 2007, Japan’s fertility rate —
the average number of children for each woman aged between 15
and 49 — is among the lowest in the world. Nearly a quarter of
the population is over the age of 65.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, November 19, 2009, 17:52