RESEARCH REPORT

Metropolitan Areas
Office Worker Survey 2023
(2) Evaluation of Work Styles<Detailed Report>
Capturing changes in workers’ work styles and values
December 13, 2023

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Survey Overview
Japan is transitioning to a post-COVID state as it downgraded thecategorization of COVID-19 under the Infectious Disease Law to Class 5 inMay 2023.

Survey period

October 2023

Targetrespondents(1) Screening: Men and women between the ages of 20 and 69
whose occupation is company manager/executive or companyemployee and who live in the areas covered by the survey.
(2) Main survey: Those who answered in the screening that theiroccupation was either an officer or staff of a company or organization
whose job category was managerial, specialized/technical, clerical or
sales and whose regular office was located in Greater Tokyo (Tokyo,Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures), Osaka City, Nagoya Cityor Fukuoka City, whose residence was in Greater Tokyo (Tokyo,Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures), or Gifu, Aichi, Mie, Shiga,Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama, Fukuoka or Sagaprefectures and whose current principal workplace was the office orhome.

Number of validanswers

4,120
Allocated according to the location of the respondent’s regular office.
(Greater Tokyo: 2,060; Osaka City: 1,030; Nagoya City: 515; Fukuoka
City: 515)

The percentage mix in the charts contained in this report is rounded to the first decimal
place and, therefore, may not add up to 100%.

Geographicalcoverage

Greater Tokyo (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures)and Gifu, Aichi, Mie, Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama,Fukuoka and Saga prefectures<Related survey>
・Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2022, released on November 30, 2022
https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20221130.pdf

Survey method

OnlineTo capture changes in work styles and the workplace from the perspectives ofboth companies and office workers, Xymax Real Estate Institute (“XymaxREI”) has conducted a total of 14 Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Surveys
of companies since autumn 2016 and seven Greater Tokyo Office WorkerSurveys of office workers since the end of 2016. This 8th office worker survey
was conducted in October 2023 with the addition of regional cities in thesurvey’s geographical coverage. This report is an excerpt of the results of thesurvey concerning the evaluation of the current work styles. “(1) Work Style
Reality and Needs,”*1 released on the same day, summarizes the results ofthe reality and the needs in work styles.
*1 Metropolitan Areas Office Worker Survey 2023 (1) Work Style Reality and Needs,
released on December 13, 2023
https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20231213_1.pdf

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Survey Overview
Attributes of Respondents

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Main Findings
1. Evaluation of Current Work Style (from p.5)●●
●Although more than 40% of respondents are “(very/somewhat) satisfied” with their current work style, this can also be interpreted tomean that the majority are not satisfied.
In terms of respondents’ performance, engagement with the organization they work for, and stress, by the level of satisfaction with
their work style, higher levels of satisfaction led to higher ratings for all items.
About 30% of workers have the intention to change jobs (the sum of “Decided to change jobs/Looking for new job” and “Want tochange jobs if possible”). Companies will have to consider initiatives to prevent the loss of talented personnel. In particular, the groupof workers who are dissatisfied with their current work style tends to have a higher intention of changing jobs.

2. Relationship Between Work Style and Satisfaction (from p.11)●●

Among workers who are “(very/somewhat) dissatisfied” with their current work style, their top specific dissatisfactions or issues were“Stressful commute” (49.8%) and “Must come to the office even if the work could be done through telework” (45.1%).
Of respondents’ dissatisfactions and issues with their work styles, those related to the inability to telework freely, such as “Must cometo the office even if the work could be done through telework,” “Working from home now prohibited or restricted” and “Difficult totelework due to atmosphere of workplace or intention of supervisor,” had a negative correlation with satisfaction. There was also anegative correlation with “Currently coming to the office full time” and a positive correlation with “Have discretion to choose where towork that day,” suggesting that having the option to telework and the discretion to choose where to work affects satisfaction.
However, in reality, more than half of the workers replied that they “don’t have (that much)” (51.8%) discretion over where to work.

3. Discretion over Where to Work (from p.14)●When confirming the reality of work styles by whether the respondent has discretion over where to work, we found that workers withdiscretion spent more time teleworking and had more options of workplaces in and outside of the office.
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1. Evaluation of Current Work Style

Majority of workers not satisfied with their current work style
Figure 1 shows the result of workers’ 5-grade evaluation of their satisfaction
with their current work style. Although more than 40% of respondents are“(very/somewhat) satisfied” with their current work style, this can also beinterpreted to mean that the majority are not satisfied.

Figure 1: Satisfaction with Current Work Style5© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

1. Evaluation of Current Work Style

Large room for improvement in all items of the current state of work
Figure 2 shows how each item concerning
respondents’ current work applies to therespondents.

Figure 2: Current State of Work

The state of work with the largest percentageof “Applies (somewhat)” was “Good work-lifebalance,” followed by “Managing to switch
on/off from work” and “Managing toconcentrate on work.” However, even for thehighest-ranking “Good work-life balance,”
about half of the respondents replied “Neither
applies nor does not apply” or “Does notapply (that much),” indicating there is large
room for improvement.
Low-ranking items included “Workingcreatively” and “Collaborating with outsideparties.”

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1. Evaluation of Current Work Style

No significant change in performance, engagement or stress between during the pandemic
and now
Figure 3 shows the result of a 5-grade
evaluation of respondents’ performance,engagement with the organization they workfor, and stress under their work style during
the COVID-19 pandemic and now.

Figure 3: Performance, Engagement, Stress during the Pandemic and Now

There was no significant difference in each
item between during the pandemic and now.
The percentage of respondents who
answered that their current performance andengagement were “(somewhat) high” or theircurrent stress was “(somewhat) low” was nothigh.

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1. Evaluation of Current Work Style

The higher the satisfaction with work style, the higher the evaluation of performance,engagement and stress
When we look at respondents’ performance,engagement and stress, which we examined
in Figure 3, by their level of satisfaction with
their work styles (Figure 1), we can see that ahigher level of satisfaction leads to a higher
evaluation of all elements (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Current Performance, Engagement, Stress – By Satisfaction with Work Style

Approximately 60% of the “very satisfied”
group of respondents replied that theirperformance was “(somewhat) high.”
In terms of engagement, the majority of the“very satisfied” group replied that theirengagement was “(somewhat) high.” In
contrast, more than 40% of the “verydissatisfied” group evaluated theirengagement as “low.”
As for stress, more than 60% of the“somewhat dissatisfied” and “verydissatisfied” groups each replied that stresswas “(somewhat) high,” indicating that stresslevels are notably high among workers withlow satisfaction with their work style. In
particular, the majority of the “verydissatisfied” group evaluated their stress levelas “high.”
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1. Evaluation of Current Work Style

Approximately 30% of workers have the intention to change jobs
Figure 5 shows the intention of respondents to change jobs from theircurrent employer.

Figure 5: Intention to Change Jobs

It indicates that approximately 30% of workers have the intention to change
jobs (the sum of “Decided to change jobs/Looking for new job” and “Wantto change jobs if possible”).
Companies will have to consider initiatives to prevent the loss of talented
personnel.

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1. Evaluation of Current Work Style

Workers with low satisfaction with work style more likely to have intention to change jobs
A comparison of the intention to change jobs
by satisfaction with the work style (Figure 1)
shows that the groups of dissatisfied
respondents are more likely to have theintention to change jobs (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Intention to Change Jobs – By Satisfaction with Work Style

In particular, while only around 30% of the“neither satisfied nor dissatisfied” group havethe intention to change jobs, the percentage
rises to 54.5%, or more than half, among the“somewhat dissatisfied” group, indicating thatthe significant difference lies in dissatisfaction.
When comparing the “somewhat dissatisfied”
group and the “very dissatisfied” group, there
is a difference of more than 10 percentage
points in “Decided to change jobs/Looking for
new job.”
These results suggest that resolving workers’
dissatisfaction and having them work with ahigh level of satisfaction will help prevent
turnover and secure human resources.

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2. Relationship Between Work Style and Satisfaction

Workers dissatisfied with commute and being required to come to office for work that
could be done through telework
Figure 7 shows the specific dissatisfactions
and issues felt by workers who replied they
were “(very/somewhat) dissatisfied” with theircurrent work style.

Figure 7: Dissatisfaction or Issue with Current Work Style

The top replies were “Stressful commute”(49.8%) and “Must come to the office even if
the work could be done through telework”(45.1%). These top two dissatisfactions standout from the third-rank “Working from home
now prohibited or restricted” (20.3%) andbelow.

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2. Relationship Between Work Style and Satisfaction

The ability of choosing where to work affects satisfaction with work style
We focused on the following four points on work styles and examined theircorrelation with respondents’ satisfaction with their current work style (Figure 8).* 1(1) Dissatisfaction or issue with current work style(2) Whether the respondent comes to the office full time(3) Whether the respondent has discretion over where to work(4) Work style initiatives used or implemented

Figure 8: Correlation Factor with Satisfaction with Current Work Style*1 The figure shows a sample of items with an absolute correlation factor of 0.1 or greater.
See the end of the report for details of the items.

As a result, of respondents’ dissatisfactions and issues, those related to theinability to telework freely, such as “Must come to the office even if the work could
be done through telework,” “Working from home now prohibited or restricted” and“Difficult to telework due to atmosphere of workplace or intention of supervisor,”
had a negative correlation with satisfaction. There was also a negative correlation
with “Currently coming to the office full time” and a positive correlation with “Havediscretion to choose where to work that day,” suggesting that having the option totelework and the discretion to choose where to work affects satisfaction.
The necessity to telework is also evident from the negative correlation between“Stressful commute” and satisfaction. Providing a telework environment that
alleviates commuting stress*2 would be effective in improving satisfaction.
Enhancing peripheral measures including ”mobile work,” “chat tools for work” andwork-from-home allowance” is also expected to improve worker satisfaction.
*2 The most popular benefit of teleworking among workers with telework experience inFigure 6 of Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2022 was “reduction in travel/commutetime” (83.0%).
https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20221130.pdf

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2. Relationship Between Work Style and Satisfaction“Stressful commute” felt particularly high in Greater Tokyo and Osaka CityOf the specific dissatisfactions and issues feltby workers who were “(somewhat/very)
dissatisfied” with their current work style, four
items with high correlations, as shown in
Figure 8, were extracted and examined by
office location (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Dissatisfaction or Issue with Current Work Style – By Office Location

As a result, respondents in Greater Tokyo
and Osaka City were more likely to answer“Stressful commute” than those in Nagoya
City and Fukuoka City. A likely background to
this is the stress from crowded trains and longcommutes.**Reference: Figures 2–4 of Metropolitan Areas
Office Worker Survey 2023 (1) Work Style Realityand Needs
https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20231213_1.pdf

We found little difference between the regionsin other dissatisfactions related to telework.
These are common issues not only in Greater
Tokyo, where teleworking is more widespread,but also in regional cities.
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3. Discretion over Where to Work

About half of workers “don’t have (that much)” discretion over where to work
In Figure 8, we confirmed a high correlation between whether the worker
has the discretion to choose where to work that day and their satisfaction
with their work style. In reality, however, more than half of the workers
replied that they “don’t have (that much)” (51.8%) discretion over where towork (Figure 10).

Figure 10: Discretion over Where to Work

Giving workers discretion over where to work would be effective in
improving worker satisfaction and lead to higher evaluations of workers’
performance, engagement and stress (Figure 4).

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3. Discretion over Where to Work

Workers with discretion over where to work spend more time teleworking
From here on we examine the reality of workstyles by whether the respondent has
discretion over where to work.

Figure 11: Time Allocated to Each Place of Work – By Discretionary Status

Figure 11 shows the time allocated to eachplace of work by the worker’s discretionary
status. It indicates that workers with discretion
spend more time teleworking in a location
other than their regular office.

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3. Discretion over Where to Work

Workers with discretion over where to work choose where to work even in the officeaccording to their purpose (ABW)
Figure 12: Utilization of Layouts within the Office – By Discretionary Status
Here we examine the utilization of layouts
within the office by discretionary status(Figure 12).
The figure shows that the groups ofrespondents who replied they have discretionover where to work have a lower percentage
of fixed desks and a higher percentage of hot
desking. This is likely affected by the fact thatteleworking is more widespread among thegroups of respondents with discretion overwhere to work, as we saw in Figure 11.
Workers with discretion over where to work
tend to have higher utilization rates of alllayouts except for fixed desks, including“open meeting space,” “booth or private room
for remote meetings” and “space forrefreshing,” indicating that they are choosing
where to work even in the office according totheir purpose. The ability to engage in Activity
Based Working (ABW) probably also
contributes to workers feeling they havediscretion over where to work.
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3. Discretion over Where to Work

Workers with discretion over where to work have more places to telework
Lastly, we examined the use of a satellite office
and working from home,* from among teleworking
initiatives, and found that workers with discretionover where to work are more likely to implement
any one of the telework initiatives (Figure 13).

Figure 13: Implementation Rate of Initiatives on the Place for Telework – By Discretionary Status* The answers were grouped into “Implementing bothworking from a satellite office and working from home,”“Working only from a satellite office,” “Working only fromhome” and “Neither.” The use of “Telework from otherlocations” is not relevant.

More than 80% of the group of workers with nodiscretion over where to work replied “Neither.” On
the other hand, as much as about 20% withdiscretion used a satellite office (the sum of “Bothfrom SO and from home” and “Only from SO”).
However, about 50% of the groups of workers who
replied “Neither have nor don’t have” or “Don’t
have that much” use some kind of initiative on theplace for telework, which suggests that it isnecessary to address workers’ needs not simply byproviding initiatives, but also from the perspectiveof the available timings and the location andnumber of places for telework.

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Analysis details: Items for which correlation with satisfaction with current work style
was examined in Figure 8 (23 items in total)

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