[NHK] 4:47 am Wife "I'm going home and my life is shortened" 4:59 am Husband "Taxi Nau" On the line that a young bureaucrat exchanged with his wife while returning home ...

Hard work in Corona-What is now for Kasumigaseki bureaucrats-December 10, 20:05

4:47 am Wife "I'm going home and my life is shortening"

4:59 am Husband "Taxi Nau" This

is a line that a young bureaucrat exchanged with his wife while returning home.

What is happening to Kasumigaseki's bureaucrats now?

(Good morning Japanese reporter Yusuke Oyama / Social Affairs Department reporter Sachiyo Sugita Sayaka Kobayashi)

Bureaucrats cornered

The bureaucrat and wife who showed me the line.

The two have small children, but the bureaucratic husband said that overtime in a month could exceed 200 hours, and he said this.

A male bureaucrat of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare

"The amount of work that people can't think of as being handled can be as much as possible regardless of the limits of human beings. I have a headache or feel uncomfortable when I go to work every day. I've never wanted to die, but I think it will be easier if I finish everything. I can understand that feeling a little. "

One of the things that kept him from working long hours was that he wasn't satisfied with his work.

A male bureaucrat of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare

"Actually, I don't have much time to think about policies properly. I am often overwhelmed by miscellaneous tasks and called by lawmakers not only in the Diet but also in other places. I often feel that I am not treated as a human being. I was prepared to continue working privately, but I think it would be quite difficult to continue this. "

0:17 am Wife "The child shouted daddy. Poor." 0:18

am Wife "Because there is almost no

such

thing." The

wife who supports such a husband complained in tears in front of us. ..

The wife of a bureaucrat,

"I think he's getting weaker and weaker. He's getting thinner. I can't even afford to talk to him. I'm supposed to be working to improve the lives of the people, but I myself. It's really hard to say that our homes are being sacrificed more and more. "

I felt that my heart was tightened by the complaint of the young couple.

"Long day" of bureaucrats

What is the actual working style of Kasumigaseki?

We decided to work closely with the young bureaucrats of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, who are at the center of the new corona measures.

Yuko Oikawa (31), who has been in the ministry for the sixth year.

My job is to coordinate policies related to food safety, etc., but due to the spread of the new corona infection, it has also been incorporated into the group in charge of border measures at airports and other places.

Mr. Oikawa said that he was working until after 1 am the day before.

When asked, "Isn't it difficult?", He answered as follows.

Mr. Oikawa:

"Now, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is doing its best. I think we are approaching the time when the government is not doing its best here."

"Face-to-face" Diet support

On this day, the most time I spent was responding to the Diet.

It is one of the important tasks for bureaucrats, and I will be present at the place where the minister's answer is prepared and actually answered.

And, "questioning" (Montori) is said to be indispensable for creating high-quality answers.

Kasumigaseki is a unique method of listening to questions directly from members of the Diet who are planning to ask questions in the Diet.

These interactions with lawmakers are, in principle, face-to-face rather than telephone or online.

On this day as well, Mr. Oikawa used the subway to make two round trips between the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Members' Office Building in Nagatacho, and it took more than an hour just to move.

Remaining paper culture

Another thing that Kasumigaseki felt was "paper culture".

Although paperless offices are becoming more popular than before, paper is the basic material used for meetings in the ministry and explanations to members of the Diet.

Mr. Oikawa:

"I feel like I'm trying to make it paperless, but ... I'll print it out on paper and check it with a pencil. Everyone goes back and forth on paper, and I wonder if there's still a little left. "

500 emails a day

Mr. Oikawa was absorbed in his work without eating lunch.

After 10 pm, I finally ate the pasta I bought at an underground convenience store.

I will check the emails I received without resting my hands during meals.

It seems that the number of receptions per day is as high as 500.

Even if the work is hard, "for the people"

On that day, Mr. Oikawa left the government building at 2:30 am.

There were still a few bosses and colleagues in the room who were still working on the Diet.

Mr. Oikawa

"When I became a generation of children and grandchildren, I became a bureaucrat with the desire to improve Japan and work for the happiness of as many people as possible. For the country and for the people. It's rewarding to be able to work. However, because of the amount of work that I wouldn't normally think of in response to the new Corona, there are times when I feel sick when late at night continues. I have a little more leeway and physical strength. I also feel frustrated that I might be able to go to the field and come up with better policies. "

On this day, Mr. Oikawa's schedule after the closing time (6:15 pm) was filled with meetings, checking materials, printing work, etc. until midnight.

While seeing off Mr. Oikawa getting into the taxi, I was worried about my physical condition.

National civil servants are not covered by the Labor Standards Act

Many

people may have wondered,

"Is it okay to work overtime so much in the first place?"

However, in reality, the Labor Standards Law does not apply to national civil servants such as bureaucrats.

Instead, there is a rule called the National Personnel Authority rules, but there are no penalties for violating it.

As the epidemic of the new corona continues, many bureaucrats are forced to work long hours, and nearly 40% of the bureaucrats work overtime more than 100 hours a month (“karoshi line” = 80 hours a month). There is also a survey of.

1 in 7 "wants to quit"

On the other hand, young people's "bureaucratic departure" is becoming more serious.

According to the Cabinet Personnel Bureau, 87 bureaucrats in their 20s retired last year for their own reasons.

It has more than quadrupled in 6 years.

In addition, 14.4% of bureaucrats in their twenties, or one in seven, said they would like to quit within a few years.

The number of bureaucrats is decreasing.

This year, 16,730 people applied for the national civil service employment examination (general employment), a decrease of 23% from five years ago.

I asked the top bureaucrats

How do executives perceive this reality?

We interviewed Hideki Tarumi, Vice-Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Then, he said, "When I was young, I had experienced a life where I couldn't even see the faces of children." "It is no longer possible to continue the situation where long working hours are hindering the lives of young employees." I feel unforgivable, "he confessed his frank thoughts.

Furthermore, it expresses a sense of crisis that this way of working is also affecting the response to the new Corona.

Vice-Minister Tarumi

"I'm worried that if long working hours continue, policies will be formulated without sufficient analysis. Looking at the response to this new corona, what kind of policy will be taken? I think that there were times when I couldn't put together enough, and as a result, I almost walked on a tightrope. Now that the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is in a difficult situation, managers can prioritize their work and determine priorities. I have to strengthen the management of the organization. I would like to listen to the voices of young people and work on organizational reform. "

Work style reform that has begun

Even among parliamentarians, in order to reduce the burden on bureaucrats, it is beginning to be considered to receive explanations from bureaucrats online as much as possible.

In addition, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has also set up its own specialized team and has begun to work on work style reforms.

We are considering improvements in 106 items, such as automating the creation of minutes, regular operation of minibuses connecting the Diet, and the use of tablet terminals instead of paper answer materials.

And a questionnaire to all the staff, we have an item to be preferentially improvement trying to Araidaso to the prospect of the new year.

However, there seems to be some difficulty with the corona virus.

Reform practitioners Minister's Secretariat overall control room Nakano AtsushiTaro Deputy Director of the team

since the "new corona support will change day-to-day situation, in the sense that transmits the information as quickly as possible early, or take a flexible communication or earlier is better face-to-face Even so, I think it is important to make telework and paperless as much as possible to maximize efficiency. Also, the response of the Diet is not a task that can be adjusted by ourselves, so we I would like to ask for the cooperation of the Diet while firmly improving the efficiency that can be achieved. "

"It's really hard to be sacrificing more and more of our families, even though we should be working to improve the lives of the people ..."

the bureaucratic couple at the beginning complained.

I feel that Kasumigaseki needs to fundamentally rethink the way Kasumigaseki works so that bureaucrats can concentrate on working for the people in the corona virus.

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Hard work in Corona-What is Kasumigaseki's bureaucracy now?