Panasonic joins global trend toward four-day week

Shorter week: An employee assisting customers in front of Panasonic televisions in an electronics store in Tokyo. Employees of the conglomerate can take up side jobs and spend time on local volunteer work on their extra days off. — Bloomberg

TOKYO: Panasonic Corp is introducing an optional four-day work week, one of a small but growing number of Japanese companies joining the global trend to encourage a good work-life balance.

Employees of the Osaka-based electronics conglomerate can take up side jobs and spend time on local volunteer work on their extra days off, according to chief executive officer Yuki Kusumi in an investor briefing last week.