Remote working in Japan has declined after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic came to an end, as more companies returned to the office, but hybrid work has taken root among many who adopted it, according to a survey.
The percentage of employees who work remotely — either fully or partially — dropped slightly from 27% in 2021 to 24.8% in 2023 nationwide, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. In the Tokyo metropolitan area, the percentage of such workers dropped from 42.3% to 38.1% over the same period.
The survey — which received responses from 36,228 salaried workers, among whom 5,832 had worked remotely or adopted a hybrid work model in the past year — shows a rising trend in the number of hybrid workers since the onset of the pandemic.