In conjunction with the transition of the new coronavirus to Class 5 under the Infectious Diseases Act, when we asked companies nationwide about changes in their work styles, nearly 4% of companies answered that remote work was "different from before the coronavirus," while the number of companies that answered "the same as before the coronavirus" was about the same, about 4%. According to a research company, "It is difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises and industries that involve people in the field, and there is a movement to return to pre-corona times."

In March, Teikoku Databank, a private credit research company, conducted a nationwide survey on work styles after the novel coronavirus shifted to Class 3, and received responses from 5,1 companies.

As a result, 1428.15% of companies answered that their work style was "more than half different from before the pandemic" due to the implementation of remote work and changes in business types, and 5.2% said that it was "about 22% different," and 5% of companies said that their work style had changed due to the coronavirus.

On the other hand, 38.39% of companies answered that they were in the same state as before the coronavirus, and it was found that there were not a few companies that had returned to their previous state, such as not changing their work style or being encouraged to come to the office due to the coronavirus.

By industry, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, construction, real estate, finance, manufacturing, etc. were the ones that were "the same as before Corona," with the service industry having the fewest numbers.

In terms of the size of companies, 1.1000% of companies with more than 52,9 employees answered that they were "different from before the pandemic," while 6.20% of companies with 34 to 4 employees said that the fewer employees there are, the less changes in work styles have been.

Toshi Fujii, General Manager of Teikoku Databank's Information Management Department, said, "While many companies have changed their work styles in large companies with relatively sufficient funds and personnel and in the information service industry, which has a high affinity with remote environments, SMEs that play multiple roles alone and industries where people are involved in the field are difficult to introduce and maintain an online environment, and there is a movement to return to pre-corona times." I am analyzing.

Companies that continue to work remotely

After the spread of the new coronavirus, many companies have permeated remote work and other work styles that do not come to the office.

DeNA, an IT company with about 1200,99 employees, introduced remote work in earnest on the occasion of the new corona, and up to 5% of its employees were working remotely during the time of the state of emergency.

After the transition to Class 7, employees can freely choose between remote work and coming to the office, and an average of 8 to 40% of employees continue to work remotely.

Some employees work at home while taking care of their children, and a male employee in his <>s who worked remotely last week said, "I want to continue this way of working because it enriches my private life and work.

The company relocated its head office on the premise of remote work, and reduced the number of seats from about 3000,5 to about one-fifth to just under 1, greatly reducing the size of the office.

In addition, as it becomes more difficult to secure IT human resources, we expect that remote work will lead to the ability to hire excellent human resources from all over the country regardless of where they work.

Takuya Shimizu, General Manager of DeNA's General Affairs Department, said, "We decided to do hybrid work because we thought it would be better for both the company and our employees if we could choose whether to come to the office or work remotely according to our work style. I believe that this way of working will become a good culture and work style for the company in the future."

There are circumstances that force manufacturers to come to the office.

In the manufacturing industry, where about 5% of respondents answered "the same as before the coronavirus" regarding the work style after the transition to Class 4, it is said that there are circumstances that force people to come to the office.

A company that sells printers and manufactures parts with 12 employees in Ota-ku, Tokyo, manufactures tooth prints and robot parts with 3D printers at the request of the customer.

This company developed its own technology that allows remote control of 3D printers from home as a countermeasure against the infection of the new coronavirus, and has been working from home for two years, and there was a time when half of the employees worked remotely.

However, in order to check the dimensions and texture of the finished product according to the customer's request, many employees were eventually forced to come to the office, and from June last year, they returned to work in principle.

Ryosuke Suzuki, director of Gutenberg, a printer sales and parts manufacturer, said, "We can see that it is shaped remotely, but we can't tell if it's good or bad without inspecting it and holding it in our hands. After all, there was a limit. I thought that I would not be able to make things as it was, so I returned to the office and the completion speed was about four times faster. After all, I was reminded that face-to-face contact between objects is deeply related to quality."

Some companies dared to return to the office in principle.

Among the information service industries, where nearly 5% of respondents answered that their work style was "different from before the coronavirus," some companies dared to return to the office in principle.

GMO Internet Group, an IT company with about 1100,8 employees, recommended remote work at the beginning of the pandemic, and at times about 2% of its employees were working from home.

However, due to the lack of communication between employees, the speed of work decreased and the training of new employees did not proceed smoothly, so in anticipation of the end of the coronavirus, we returned to work in principle from February.

Currently, most employees come to the office, and once a month, all employees gather in one room to hold meetings to report on work and introduce new employees.

Last month, there was a time for chatting at an entrance ceremony attended by all new employees, and 1 new employees interacted directly with executives.

A male employee who joined the company three years ago said, "Because I had no experience as a member of society, I was very worried that I would not be able to do anything by myself if something went wrong when something went wrong when working remotely.

Takashi Niino, Manager of the GMO Internet Group Public Relations Team, said, "In principle, we decided to come to the office because it is very fast to communicate face-to-face. I hope that they will raise their motivation and performance and make use of it in their work."

Expert: "The balance between remote and face-to-face is important"

Professor Yuko Tsukazaki of Taisho University, who is an expert on labor policy, pointed out that the reason why companies return to the office in principle is that "remote work has issues such as difficulty in managing work conditions and lack of communication, making it difficult to form human networks and develop human resources within the company."

On top of that, he added, "On the worker side, remote work has become familiar due to the Corona disaster, and the number of people seeking flexible work styles is increasing. In the future, it will be important for companies to consider the balance between remote and face-to-face meetings. It is also good to have the flexibility to change depending on the career status of each employee. For example, immediately after joining the company, there is a need for flexibility, such as coming to the office for a certain period of time, creating a human network, receiving thorough education, and then adopting a hybrid of remote and coming to the office."