A study made by Deutsche Bank states that cutting prolonged working hours could affect Japanese economic growth. Demanding industries that depend on domestic demand are said to suffer the most. Cutting overtime might lead to lower household income and deplete corporate earnings which will greatly affect the economy.
Deutsche Bank adds that Japanese employees usually render undocumented overtime which might be more than the documented data. Police findings state that work-related stress became one of the leading causes of deaths in 2015. Last October, the government released an extensive research about deaths by overwork which states that 12% of companies made their employees render more than 100 hours of overtime a month. Since then, the government considers enjoining companies’ overtime requirements.
Vocabulary:
prolonged – relatively long in duration
deplete – reduce
extensive – in detail
undocumented – not official record
enjoin – order
True or False:
- Cutting prolonged working hours could have an effect in the Japanese economy.
- Rendering overtime might lead to lower household income and deplete corporate earnings which will greatly affect the economy.
- Work-related stress became one of the leading causes of deaths in 2015, accroding to police data.
- An extensive study about death by overwork was released last December.
- Study shows that 12% of companies made their employees render more than 100 hours of overtime a day.
Express your opinion:
- What do you think about the findings of Deutsche Bank?
- Some employers say that employees who render overtime work do not manage their time well. What do you think about this?
- In what way do you think will economy be affected by reducing work time?
- How do you handle work-related stress?
- Do you think achieving work-life balance is possible? Please explain your answer.
Defend your argument:
- Employees should not work beyond working hours.
- Companies should commend overworked employees.
- Employees could just quit if they feel stressed.