No more overworked Japan? New figures show employees clock fewer hours

Japan’s reputation as a nation where employees put in brutally long hours may have to be reassessed, according to recent official statistics showing that Japanese workers now clock fewer hours on average than Americans, Canadians and Italians.At first glance, the numbers suggest that government efforts to curb karoshi, or death by overwork, have paid off. But analysts and employees caution that the figures may not be directly comparable with those from other nations.According to figures released by the Cabinet Office last month, the average Japanese worker put in 1,654.2 hours over the 2024 financial year, which ended on March 31. That was down 17.7 hours from the previous year and marked the second straight year of decline.It was also far below the 2,121 hours recorded in 1980, at the height of Japan’s economic bubble.By comparison, Americans worked an average of 1,796 hours in the 2024 financial year, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. South Koreans averaged 1,865 hours, Canadians 1,697 and Italians 1,709.Japan still has some way to go to match low-working-hour economies such as Germany, where employees worked an average of 1,331 hours, and Denmark, where the figure was 1,379 hours.