|
In
the past, people in other countries sometimes pointed out
that the Japanese worked too much. But in recent years the
number of working hours has been brought down
considerably. According to the statistics for 1997, the
average annual working hours were 1,900. How does Japan
compare with other countries in this respect? The figure
for manufacturing in 1996 show that the average worker in
Japan put in a total of 1,993 hours. This was considerably
more than in France, where the figure was 1,679 hours. In
the United States, the figure for the same year was 1,986
hours. The average number of hours per working day was 7
hours and 41 minutes in Japan.
Nearly
60% of the people working for companies in Japan have two
full days off every week. Many other people have every
Sunday off, plus one Saturday off every two weeks.
Government
offices and most businesses are closed for the 15 national
holidays Japan has every year. The average yearly days off
(including national holidays and regular days off) is
112.5 days. They also give their employees an average of 8
days off in the summer and 4 to 6 days off around New
Year's. The average number of additional paid holidays per
employee in 1997 was 17.4, but the average number that
they actually used was only 9.4 days.
|
General Section
