Telework in Japan: perceptions and implementation

It is believed that telework has numerous benefits for individuals, organizations and the whole society. Despite the expected benefits, adoption and diffusion of telework have been considerably slow. In Japan, the adoption rate of telework is said to be lower compared with other industrialized countries. The aim of this research is to examine the telework implementation states and the perceptions of workers and management toward telework and thereby identify the problems causing for the slow adoption of telework in Japan. This paper presents a survey study based on 1,134 workers and 463 organizations in Japan. The adoption patterns of three telework types (satellite office, telecommuting, and mobile work) in different areas and by the size of organizations are discussed, and perceptions of workers and management are presented. Reasons for different patterns of adoption and future proliferation of telework in Japan are also discussed