Fujitsu Embarks Towards ‘New Normal’, Redefining Working Styles for Its Japan Offices

• “Work Life Shift” will offer unprecedented flexibility to boost innovation, work life-balance
  80,000 Fujitsu Group employees in Japan will now be primarily remote-working
• Office footprint in Japan will be reduced to 50% of current levels by FY2022
• Fujitsu to fast track adoption of new measures and tools, accelerate transition to DX company

Fujitsu announced that it will further accelerate its shift to becoming a Digital Transformation (DX) company with an ambitious campaign to redefine working styles for its employees in Japan in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of this “Work Life Shift” campaign, Fujitsu will introduce a new way of working that promises a more empowering, productive, and creative experience for employees that will boost innovation and deliver new value to its customers and society through the power of DX.

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“Work Life Shift” is not only a concept of “work,” but represents a comprehensive initiative to realize employee well-being by shifting preexisting notions of “life” and “work” through digital innovation. This concept demonstrates Fujitsu’s leadership in driving the digital transformation of working culture and spaces in Japan, where many companies have yet to fully embrace the potential of digital technologies to maximize efficiency and creativity in the workplace. As a pioneer in workplace reform through DX, Fujitsu was one of the first large companies in Japan to actively promote remote working practices, which it introduced companywide in Japan in 2017. For employees in Japan, this latest initiative will mark the end of the conventional notion of commuting to and from fixed offices, while simultaneously granting them a higher degree of autonomy based on the principle of mutual trust.

This process will be achieved through the measures outlined below, which will address both changes to the personnel system as well as the office environment for workers in Japan in order to accelerate their transition to a new work style. Fujitsu will additionally streamline its use of office space in Japan to reduce its current footprint by 50%(1) by the end of fiscal 2022, introducing a hot desk system where employees are not assigned to a fixed desk. Fujitsu will continue to pursue optimal ways of working to achieve its recently announced corporate “Purpose,”(2) making DX a reality for its customers by leveraging technology and know-how gained through internal experience as a point of departure.

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Three Core Principles to Delivering a New Working Paradigm Fujitsu’s “Work-Life Shift” initiative relies on three core principles to achieve this vision: “Smart Working,” “Borderless Office,” and “Culture Change”.

1. Smart Working: realizing optimal working styles

Approximately 80,000 Japan-based Fujitsu Group employees(3) will begin to primarily work on a remote-basis to achieve a working style that allows them to flexibly use their time according to the contents of their work, business roles, and lifestyle. Fujitsu anticipates that this will not only improve productivity but also mark a fundamental shift away from the rigid, traditional concept of commuting leading to enhanced work-life balance.

– Expanding flexible working hours to all Japan-based Fujitsu Group employees. (Implemented from July 2020)
– Changing support for commuting expenses, offering additional support for remote work environments. (From July 2020)
– Return of domestic transfer employees who are assigned to work away from home, enabling them to handle their work through telecommuting and business trips as needed. (From July 2020)
– Establishing a system to allow employees to work from locations far from Fujitsu offices (e.g., their hometown in the countryside) by taking advantage of remote working and business trips, supporting those who might move due to personal reasons such as family care or the transfer of a spouse. (Started during FY 2020)

2. Borderless Office: a reassessment of the ideal office environment

Fujitsu will shift away from the conventional practice of working from a fixed office towards a seamless system that allows employees to freely choose the place they want to work, including from home, hub, or satellite offices, depending on the type of work they do.

– A hub office will be set up in different areas of the country with each office having a defined main function, such as the demonstration of cutting-edge IT systems, showcases, or collaboration with customers. In parallel, Fujitsu will streamline its use of office space to reduce its footprint to about 50% of current levels(1), switching completely to a hot desk system, and thereby creating a comfortable and creative office environment. (By end of FY 2022)
– Expansion of satellite office space and provision of infrastructure equivalent to that of a hub office, including multisite video conference systems. (By September 2021)
– Fujitsu is promoting a thorough review and digitalization of business processes that enable remote work while identifying tasks that require attendance at the office. (In progress since April 2020)
– Fujitsu is continuously updating its security policies and building a secure global network infrastructure that enables direct access from anywhere to information (Gradual introduction from January FY 2021)
– Introduction of tools(4) to deliver real-time visualization of office usage and further improvement of convenience through analyzing data. (Gradual introduction from end of FY 2020)

3. Culture Change: transforming corporate culture

Fujitsu will work to realize a new style of management based on employee autonomy and trust to maximize team performance and improve productivity. In addition, Fujitsu will continue to seek ways to optimize working styles by continuously listening to the voices of its employees regarding the dramatic shift toward physically separated working spaces, and by leveraging a digital platform that visualizes and analyzes working conditions.

– Expanded implementation of a job-based personnel system to regular employees. (Evaluating with labor union in FY 2020)
– Implementing one-to-one communication skills training for all employees to enhance one-to-one communication between supervisors and subordinates. (From July 2020)
– Conducting further wellness checks to offer compassionate support to help employees’ physical and mental wellbeing. (From July 2020)
– By using “Workplace Innovation Zinrai for 365 Dashboard” to visualize work content using AI, Fujitsu can pinpoint problems in the current way of working and realize further improvements in productivity and the quality of work. (From July 2020)
– Offering enhanced support with additional communication tools and devices for all Group employees in Japan and improve convenience by utilizing communication tools such as “Microsoft Teams” and strengthening cooperation with business systems. (Scheduled to start in FY 2020)

(1) Reduce current footprint by 50% Optimizing use of current office space to reduce area used to about 50% of current levels
(2) Purpose The company’s raison d’etre and role to play. The company defines its PURPOSE as “Fujitsu’s purpose is to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation.”
(3) Japan Group employees Excluding those in manufacturing and deployed at customers’ facilities
(4) Introduction of tools Product of Fujitsu Advanced Engineering. A location-based platform that uses IoT technology to visualize the movement of people and objects.

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