The Effect of Telework on Employee’s Work-Life Balance In Japan During The Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Japan is known for its conventional business management style. The influence of culture on business management style requires all workers to do face-to-face. In addition, Japan is also known for its employees who have long working hours. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, suppressing the positive number of Covid-19, a telework system was implemented, which caused many employees in Japan to stay at home more. So, this research aims to know the impact of telework on the work-life balance of employees at the Japanese company during pandemic Covid-19. The method used in this research is descriptive quantitative. Source data collect by distributing questionnaires to employees in Japan. The collected data is tested statistically and associated with the work culture in Japan. Through this research, it can be concluded that telework has a significant and positive impact on work-life balance but with a weak correlation. Telework has a positive impact because it can help overcome problems such as long working hours, and reduce stress levels and work pressure, so employees' work-life balance in Japan can be improved. Then, the factors that cause a weak correlation are the difficulty of managing time due to distractions such as family, motivation, and forgetting the time due to the absence of boundaries between the time of work and place of residence.