Friday, December 1, 2017

Conference regarding Life-Work Balance

I attended an academic conference in Tokyo. Its theme is work science.


I listened to several speakers all of which were leading researchers in this region. I learned how Finland had maximized the working performance without any sacrifice or risk in the health. It was only some years ago self-development became more important than salary in the majority of workers even Finland. On the other hand, some young people in Japan do not expect much salary due to prolonged economic depression. The poverty rate and low level of social security are also associated with this issue.

In Japan, stress screening in each company has been mandated since two years ago. This scheme was criticized by some researchers for its lack of evidence to reduce stress-related damages. One speaker showed the data of recent attempts, suggesting that stress-checking is effective to detect the risk of onset of mental disorders to some extent. But proper intervention to workers at high risk is not adequately provided Japan.

In Japan, many people believe women are likely not to be engaged in work so seriously. But according to a speaker, it is a myth, and most women are willing to be responsible for important works. The most important factor for Japanese women to quit jobs is not becoming pregnant, as many Japanese men believe, but complaints at work.

I have learned many things in this conference. They will be a great help for my further research.

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