Major companies such as Hitachi Ltd. and NEC Corp. said Tuesday they will continue to push work-from-home arrangements even though the state of emergency over the new coronavirus pandemic was called off the previous day.

Hitachi said around 70 percent of its employees on average have been working from home to reduce the risk of infection and curb the spread of the virus after the state of emergency was declared in April, and it will continue promoting teleworking to ensure business continuity in case a second wave of infections occurs.

The company said it will ask its employees to work from home in principle through the end of June, except in cases such as infrastructure inspections. It aims to have 50 percent of its employees engaged in telework on average as the epidemic subsides, Senior Vice President Hidenobu Nakahata told an online news conference.