On May 8, 2023, En Japan Co., Ltd. released the results of a survey of 10,000 working adults on overtime work. The survey was conducted on “En Tenshoku,” a comprehensive job site operated by En Japan, and responses were received from 12,940 users.
◆84% of respondents answered that presence or absence of overtime work and average hours of overtime work influenced their choice of career path.
In response to the question, “To what extent do the availability and average hours of overtime affect your choice of company when you are changing jobs? The most common response was “Very much” (49%), followed by “Slightly” (35%), for a total of 84% of the respondents.
By age group, more than half of those in their 20s and 30s responded “it affects me a lot” (55% of those in their 20s and 56% of those in their 30s), and when combined with “it affects me a little,” 89% of those in their 20s and 88% of those in their 30s said it affects them a lot.
In terms of gender, 44% of men responded that it “greatly affects” their work, while 54% of women responded that it “greatly affects” their work, a difference of 10 points. It is clear that women consider overtime hours more important in choosing a company than men.
◆Overtime “is increasing” for 26% and “is decreasing” for 24%. Half of the respondents “No change”.
“Over the past few years, have your overtime hours been increasing? Has it been decreasing?” 50% of the respondents answered “No change”, accounting for half of the total. The “increasing trend” was 26%, and the “decreasing trend” was 24%, almost the same percentage.
By industry, the consulting/professional business industry had the largest increase in overtime hours at 36%, while manufacturers (machinery, electrical, electronics, etc.) had the largest decrease at 32%.
◆Reason for increase in overtime hours is “labor shortage”, reason for decrease is “corporate overtime restrictions”.
When those who responded that overtime work is on the rise were asked the reason for the increase, the most common response, at 75%, was “Due to insufficient staffing”. This was followed by “Due to increased workload” at 67%.
On the other hand, the most common reason given by those who responded that their overtime hours were “on the decrease” was “because overtime work has been restricted,” at 42%.
◆Only less than 40% of respondents are aware of the overtime premium system.
When asked if they were aware that “the premium rate for overtime wages exceeding 60 hours per month will be increased to 50%,” 39% of those working in small and medium-sized enterprises were aware (9% knew much about it, including the details, and 30% knew only an outline), which was less than 40% of all respondents.
A total of 80% of respondents (47% “very favorable” and 33% “favorable”) expressed a favorable view of the hike. On the other hand, less than 10% said they “think the increase is not good” (1% think it is very bad and 8% think it is bad).
