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More than one-third in Japan have worked remotely amid coronavirus pandemic: survey

Jun 22, 2020 (Japan Times) - A Japanese government survey has found 34.6 percent of respondents experienced teleworking due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Cabinet Office said Sunday.

The survey also showed that many young residents in the Tokyo metropolitan area are interested in moving to other regions.

In the Tokyo area, 55.5 percent of the respondents regularly or sporadically worked remotely.

Regarding what should be done to further the spread of teleworking, many mentioned changes to staff meetings and decision making, digitization of documents and accelerated moves to paperless offices, as well as improvements in access to internal systems at companies.

Of the respondents in their 20s living in the Tokyo metropolitan area, 27.7 percent said they have grown more interested in moving to other regions, including those whose interest increased somewhat amid the pandemic.

The survey also found 70.3 percent of respondents raising children said they spend more time with their families than before the COVID-19 crisis.

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