Telework for a sustainable society: Lessons from the remote work boom during the COVID-19 epidemic in Japan

One of the prerequisites for creating a sustainable society is to establish a new “way of working.” The conventional work style that has supported economic development is “office work, " which was created during the process of industrialization on the assumption that employees work at the same time and in the same place. Telework is expected to break out of this work style which has been fixed over the years, realize flexible work styles, and thereby contribute to the construction of a sustainable society. Despite such high expectations, telework has not been widely adopted in Japan. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it spread rapidly in the country in response to the government’s request to refrain from leaving the house. We conducted a diary survey on the actual status of telework from November 8 to 14 in 2021. The survey results show that the form of teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic shifted from mobile work-centered to work from home (WFH)-centered and that the time free from commuting was spent on sleep and recreation. However, that WFH-centered telework just replaced the conventional way individuals work. To build a sustainable society, it is necessary to reform the principles of working, and WFH has the potential for realizing the reform.