Miyagi Aims For Shorter Work Week For Care Workers
Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan plans to promote a four-day work week for care workers as part of work reform measures to attract more to the field.
Japan's health ministry estimates the prefecture will face a shortage of more than 4,700 of such caregivers in fiscal 2025.
The Miyagi prefectural government aims to get more people into the field by improving their working environment. It says it will hire consultants on work reform and send them to interested facilities.
Prefectural officials say the consultants will help facilities review their business and working hours with regards to the number of staff and elderly people there.
They say they aim to establish a four-day work week system at care centers in the prefecture by the end of next fiscal year.
The prefectural government says it is the first attempt in Japan to send consultants at a prefecture's expense to help make a four-day work week system at these kinds of facilities.
