Photo/Illutration Daiwa House Industry Co. removes a notice stating that its Osaka headquarters is closed after the state of emergency was lifted May 21. (Provided by Daiwa House Industry Co.)

Large companies in prefectures no longer under a state of emergency are perplexed over whether to continue allowing employees to work from home or return to the office.

Most firms that instituted teleworking after the new coronavirus pandemic flared are now allowing employees to return to office work, mostly on a limited basis.

But with fears that COVID-19 infections could still arise, companies are being extremely cautious about instructing employees to resume their daily commute.

Teleworking could remain an alternative work style from now on.

A notice posted since early April at the entrance hall on the first floor of Daiwa House Industry Co.’s headquarters in Osaka that stated the building remained closed temporarily was taken down a little before 7 p.m. on May 21 after the state of emergency was lifted for Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures.

At the government's request, companies had reduced the number of employees going to offices by 70 percent. In the case of Daiwa House Industry, the company temporarily closed all of its 76 offices nationwide and instructed the 22,000 people on its payroll to work from home if they could.

Daiwa House Industry offices in areas where the state of emergency was lifted before Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures were freed from constraints have already reopened but mandated that only 50 percent of employees turn up for work so as to reduce the risk of infection.

The offices in the three latest prefectures, including the headquarters, are expected to follow suit.

“The health of clients and employees is the key issue, and I intend to wait and see what will happen in areas where the state of emergency was lifted,” said Keiichi Yoshii, president of Daiwa House Industry.

Sharp Corp., headquartered in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, has also adopted a cautious approach to returning to the way things were before the health crisis erupted.

Even in Nara and Mie prefectures, where the state of emergency was lifted earlier this month, the company is still requesting employees to work from home as much as possible so as to reduce the risk of new infections.

“Given that there are still some risks, we plan to wait and view the situation objectively before considering what to do,” said a Sharp representative, referring to the lifting of the state of emergency.

The change in work style due to the pandemic has left numerous companies pondering their options with regard to returning to the conventional way of working.

Panasonic Corp. had requested its employees, except factory workers, to work from home.

While employees are permitted now to return to its offices in areas where the state of emergency has been lifted, the company is encouraging them to continue teleworking so as to avoid crowded workplaces.

“Teleworking was also instituted in the research development and sales departments where it was previously thought hard to apply," said a public relations official. "It turned out that productivity actually improved in some tasks.”

Kansai Mirai Bank Ltd. had limited the number of employees who can work from home, but said it will allow more staff to telework on an exceptional basis.

“Teleworking functioned unexpectedly smoothly even in planning department, which does not handle confidential client information," said a representative of the bank.

The official said the company is considering targeting a wider range of employees from now on.

“Many companies historically did not adopt teleworking due to concerns about security issues," noted Yasuhiro Furukawa, a professor at Kwansei Gakuin University who specializes in the telework issue

“But during the pandemic, many companies and employees experienced teleworking for the first time and were able to gauge the advantages and problems of the system," Furukawa added. "I think more people will opt for a more relaxed work style either by working at home or staggering their commuting hours.”

(This article was written by Daisuke Ikuta, Kuniaki Nishio and Takeho Morita.)

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