A Japanese Electrical, Electronic and Information Union survey reveals how people in the industry view their long working hours

The Japanese Electrical, Electronic and Information Union recently announced the findings of their fact-finding lifestyle survey. The results reveal the actual status of the long working hours of people in the electrical machinery industry, and how these individuals feel about them.

The survey, conducted in August 2004, received responses from 4,761 members of 126 unions (3,879 men and 867 women; the gender of 15 was not recorded). The response rate was 79.4%.

The time the respondents leave home for work in the morning was 7:33 a.m. on average for men and 7:44 a.m. for women, which were more or less similar. A major difference was seen, however, in the time they came home from work: 8:59 p.m. for men and 6:16 p.m. for women. A total of 71.1% of the men and 4.5% of the women return home after 8:00 p.m., highlighting the fact that many women are unable to obtain the assistance of their husbands with housework and childcare, as well as showing the actual status of fathers who have little or no contact with their children during the week.

Male union members worked an average of 33 hours overtime per month, with 20% working more than 50 hours. By type of work, markedly long overtime work hours were cited by those engaged in development and design (42 hours) and sales and research (more than 30 hours). The poll also revealed the actual status of holiday work: 14% worked on 4 holidays per month, and 16% worked on 5 or more holidays, showing that approximately 30% of the workers took only a Saturday or a Sunday off--not both days--every week.

Once a person's overtime work exceeded 20 hours a month, about half of these people became dissatisfied with the small amount of time they were able to spend with their family; once a male worker's overtime work exceeded 40 hours, and that of his female counterpart exceeded 30 hours, about half of these people became constantly concerned about their health.

The survey report points out that long hours of overtime work are seriously affecting workers' health and family life. This poll showed that people working in the electrical machinery industry are demanding that long working hours due to labor shortages be cut, and that anxieties about employment and the future be eliminated to realize a secure, worry-free life. They are not the only ones. The majority of people, who are engaged in other industries, work while having similar dissatisfactions with their work patterns. This, we believe, is the reality of today's Japan.