Xymax Real Estate Institute

RESEARCH REPORTGreater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
Capturing changes in workers’ workstyles and values

December 19, 2019

Companies are accelerating their efforts in workstyle reforms and promoting diverse ways of working that are
not bound by time and place. Such new workstyles have become an important topic not only in companies’
management strategies but also for office workers in terms of productivity improvement and work-life balance.
Against this backdrop, Xymax Real Estate Institute has been conducting questionnaire surveys to capturechanges in workstyles and the workplace from the perspectives of both companies and office workers. We haveconducted seven questionnaire surveys of companies since autumn 2016 and three surveys of office workers
since the end of 2016, this being the fourth. This periodic report summarizes the latest trend of the actual
workstyles and values of workers working in Greater Tokyo, based on the results of the survey.
Related surveys:
・New Ways of Working and New Types of Office, released on April 13, 2017https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20170413.pdf
・Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2018, released on June 6, 2018https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20180606.pdf
・Effect of Commuting Stress on the Working People’s Satisfaction, released on June 4, 2019https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20190604.pdf

Summary of Survey Results
1. Reality and issues of workstyle measuresMore than 60% of the workers replied that their employer was carrying out workstyle reforms.
However, a majority of them replied that there were no changes in their workstyle.

Nearly half of the workers whose employer carried out workstyle reforms felt the effect of thereforms. The top effects were “rectified long work hours (overtime, extra days)” (39.8%) and“better work-life balance” (38.3%).

71.7% of the workers were dissatisfied in their workstyle or workplace in some way.
Dissatisfaction in the environment of their office included “difficult to refresh oneself” (48.9%) and“performance of air conditioning (e.g. temperature, humidity)” (45.7%).

The teleworking rate was 39.5%.
When breaking down telework-related measures into “mobile work” and “place for telework,”*1 theuse of mobile work was 36.1% while the use of a place for telework remained at 13.4%.

Even when including measures other than telework, the use of mobile work was high.

73.7% of the workers using a place for telework felt an effect of workstyle reforms, 30.5
percentage points more than workers who did not use a place for telework.

By attribute of workers, telework has spread among workers in a management post and in job
categories of “corporate planning,” “planning, development, marketing of products & services,”and “sales.” The teleworking rate rose as the number of employees of thecompany/organization increased.
Many of the users of a place for telework used it for 1–2 times or less per month, indicating that
there is room for growth in the spread of telework. There were characteristic benefits in serviced
and shared offices, such as “ability to come up with good ideas” and “better work results.”
 Reasons for difficulty in teleworking in the environment of home included “difficult to switch on andGreater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Instituteoff from work” (49.6%) and “do not have desk or chair suited for work” (49.6%).

2. Needs for workstyles
The needs for telework was higher than the current introduction (teleworking) rate, especially in“place for telework,” which was 21.7 points larger than the current usage rate.
The needs exceeded the usage rate in workstyle-related measures, especially in “flextime
program,” “work-from-home program,” and “side job.”
There was a large gap between the telework usage rate and needs among female workers
with a preschool child. (From PICK UP column)
Workers are more interested in “working in an area near home to achieve proximity between
workplace and home” (75.9%) than “working in the city center where people and functions areconcentrated” (58.9%).

3. Satisfaction, well-being

Only one in two workers were satisfied with their current workstyle or thought their workstyle orwork environment was good for their physical and mental well-being.
When comparing workers who used a place for telework and those who did not, there was a large
gap in their satisfaction in their workstyle and their evaluation of their well-being.

4. Future workstyles


The top replies of workers’ ideal future society or workstyle were, “commuter trains are lesscongested, enabling workers to make the most of the commute time” (85.3%), “total work hours
are shorter, enabling workers to spend more time other than in work” (84.1%), “there are moreplaces where one can work near the home, resulting in less commuting stress (83.7%), and “it iseasier to balance child/elder care and work” (83.6%), which indicate workers’ interest in reducing
commuting stress and improving work-life balance.
*1

Refers to “work-from-home program,” “use of serviced office or shared office provided by a specialized
operator,” and “use of satellite office or other similar facility owned or rented by own company.”

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright ©2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

1．Reality and issues of workstyles
1-1．Reality and issues of workstyle reformsMore than 60% of the workers replied that their employer was carrying out workstyle reforms.
However, a majority of them replied that there were no changes in their workstyle.



Nearly half of the workers whose employer carried out workstyle reforms felt the effect of thereforms. The top effects were “rectified long work hours (overtime, extra days)” (39.8%) and “better
work-life balance” (38.3%).



71.7% of the workers were dissatisfied in their workstyle or workplace in some way.

Dissatisfaction in the environment of their office included “difficult to refresh oneself” (48.9%) and“performance of air conditioning (e.g. temperature, humidity)” (45.7%).

In this survey, we obtained valid responses from 2,060 men and women aged between 20 and 69, whose
profession was officer or staff of a company or organization, whose job category was managerial, specialized or
technical, clerical or sales, and whose regular workplace was in Greater Tokyo (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, andChiba prefectures). We will look into the reality of the respondents’ current workstyles.
We first asked the workers’ and their employers’ initiatives in workstyle reforms. Workers who replied that
their employer was carrying out workstyle reforms accounted for more than 60% of total (62.9%) (Figure 1).
However, 34.7% replied that their workstyle had not changed, which is more than half of the workers who repliedthat their empoyer was carrying out workstyle reforms. Such workers may not be able to consider workstylereforms as something that concern them.
Figure 1: Initiatives in Workstyle Reforms

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteWe then asked workers whose employers were carrying out workstyle reforms whether they felt the effect of thereforms. 49.1% of the workers replied that they felt an effect “very much” or “somewhat” (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Whether Workers Felt the Effect of Workstyle Reforms

As for the specific effects of workstyle reforms, the top replies were “rectified long work hours (overtime, extradays)” (39.8%) and “better work-life balance” (38.3%) (Figure 3). The results show that workers felt a wide varietyof effects.
Figure 3: Specific Effects of Workstyle Reforms

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteWe will now look into workers’ dissatisfactions in their current workstyle. Those who were dissatisfied in some
way with the workstyle or work location with their current employer accounted for as much as 71.7% (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Dissatisfaction in Workstyle or Work Environment

Figure 5 shows the specific dissatisfactions of those who replied in Figure 4 that they had some kind of
dissatisfaction. The dissatisfactions were various, such as in the work location and program. For telework, inparticular, some workers were dissatisfied that “there is no telework program” (25.7%), while others seemed
to be unable to fully utilize the program, even if it existed, for reasons such as “do not have work suited fortelework” (12.2%) and “difficult to telework in environment of home” (9.0%).
Figure 5: Specific Dissatisfaction in Workstyle or Work Environment*2 Workation: A portmanteau of working vacation, meaning to work from a travel destination, etc.

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteFurthermore, we asked those who chose “office environment of company/organization is inadequate,” the top
reply in Figure 5, the reason for choosing the reply. The most popular reasons were “difficult to refresh oneself”(48.9%), “performance of air conditioning (e.g. temperature, humidity)” (45.7%), and “old and not clean” (41.3%),
all of which were more than 40% (Figure 6). There was a wide variety of dissatisfactions in their office. The officeenvironment is extremely important as it can affect workers’ motivation and productivity. Companies must
recognize the issues of their offices and provide a good environment for workers.
Figure 6: Dissatisfaction in the Office Environment

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

1-2．Teleworking rate and issues of telework

The teleworking rate was 39.5%.

When breaking down telework-related measures into “mobile work” and “place for telework,” theuse of mobile work was 36.1% while the use of a place for telework remained at 13.4%.



Even when including measures other than telework, the use of mobile work was high.



73.7% of the workers using a place for telework felt an effect of workstyle reforms, 30.5 percentage
points more than workers who did not use a place for telework.

In this section, we will take a deeper look into telework, one of the workers’ workstyles.
In this survey we asked workers about the workstyle measure they currently used and calculated the usage
rate of each measure (Figure 8). Of the measures, we extracted three mobile work measures*3 and threemeasures related to places for telework.*1 In this report, we refer to workers who use any of these six measures
as “teleworkers” and calculated the teleworking rate. It was 39.5% (Figure 7 (top row)).
Furthermore, we examined the usage rates of “mobile work” and “place for telework” (Figure 7 (lower twobars)). The usage rate of mobile work was 36.1%, which overlapped with a majority of teleworkers. On the other
hand, only 13.4% of the workers used a place for telework, which indicates that there are quite a few workers
who carry out telework but only in mobile work.
Figure 7: Usage Rate of Workstyle-related Measure (Calculation for Telework Measures)*1

Refers to “work-from-home program,” “use of serviced office or shared office provided by a specialized
operator,” and “use of satellite office or other similar facility owned or rented by own company.”*3

Refers to “use of system enabling workers to check emails and schedules anywhere with a smartphone,mobile PC, etc. (mobile work),” “use of system enabling workers to work outside the office in the same
network environment as the office with a smartphone, mobile PC, etc. (mobile work),” and “IT devices suchas smartphones, mobile PCs and tablets are provided by the company to enable mobile work.”

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

Even when comparing the usage rate including measures other than telework, mobile work measures rank
high, which suggests that mobile work is a relatively easy workstyle measure to carry out (Figure 8). The measureother than telework with the highest usage rate was “flextime program” (23.3%).
Figure 8: Usage Rate of Workstyle-related Measures (Detail)*2 Workation: A portmanteau of working vacation, meaning to work from a travel destination, etc.
*4 Flexible layout: Hot desks, group hot desks, open meeting space, space for refreshing, ABW, canteen, café
space, etc.
*5 Satellite office: An office located near a major railway station or the suburbs for the benefit of employees’commuting time, equipped with facilities similar to those of the main office.
*6 Regardless of contract terms such as shared use with another company or dedicated section for own
company.

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteLooking at whether workers felt an effect of workstyle reforms, which we showed in Figure 2, by the
teleworking status, teleworkers felt an effect (sum of “very much” and “somewhat”) 23.1 percentage points morethan non-teleworkers (Figure 9 (upper two bars)). When focusing on measures related to places for teleworkand comparing by usage status, the difference in the percentage of workers feeling an effect increased to 30.5
points, with 73.7% of workers who used a place for telework feeling an effect of the reforms (Figure 9 (lower
two bars)). Of the various workstyle reform measures, measures that provide workers with options for work
location tend to result in workers feeling an effect of the reforms.
Figure 9: Whether Workers Felt the Effect of Workstyle Reforms (By Telework Status)*1

Refers to “work-from-home program,” “use of serviced office or shared office provided by a specialized
operator,” and “use of satellite office or other similar facility owned or rented by own company.”

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright ©2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

1-3．Reality of teleworkers


By attribute of workers, telework has spread among workers in a management post and in job
categories of “corporate planning,” “planning, development, marketing of products & services,” and“sales.” The teleworking rate rose as the number of employees of the company/organization
increased.

Many of the users of a place for telework used it for 1–2 times or less per month, indicating that
there is room for growth in the spread of telework. There were characteristic benefits in serviced andshared offices, such as “ability to come up with good ideas” and “better work results.”Reasons for difficulty in teleworking in the environment of home included “difficult to switch on andoff from work” (49.6%) and “do not have desk or chair suited for work” (49.6%).

Thus far, we have found that telework has gradually spread in society, despite a difference in the way “mobilework” and “place for telework” have spread, and that it has a positive impact on whether workers feel the effectof workstyle reforms. In this section, we look into the reality of teleworkers: to whom and to what degree
telework is currently being adopted.
We will first look at teleworkers by attribute. Workers’ teleworking rate by the number of employees of thecompany/organization rose as the number of employees increased (Figure 10).
Figure 10: Teleworking Rate (By Number of Employees of Company/Organization)

By managerial position, the teleworking rate was relatively higher among workers in a managerial position:
60.3% of workers in a position equivalent to department head teleworked (Figure 11). On the other hand, theteleworking rate was the lowest among workers who were not in a managerial position (27.9%).
Figure 11: Teleworking Rate (By Managerial Position)

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

Finally, Figure 12 shows the results by job category. The teleworking rate exceeded 50% in job categories of“corporate planning” (68.3%), “planning, development, marketing of products & services” (57.8%), and “sales”(50.5%). Although the rate was lower than other job categories in “administration” and “finance & accounting,”
which are considered to consist mainly of desk work, around 30% of workers in these job categories teleworked.
Figure 12: Teleworking Rate (By Job Category)We then asked how frequent users of the three measures related to places for telework used the place. In allmeasures, workers who replied that they used the place 1–2 times or less per month accounted for the most(Figure 13). Even among workers who already used a place for telework, there still seems to be room for the
spread of telework when we look at the frequency of use. Workers who used the place 1–2 times or more per
week accounted for around 30% among users of the work-from-home program and around 20% among users
of serviced or shared offices and satellite offices.
Figure 13: Frequency of Use (By Place for Telework)

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

When we asked users of each place for telework about the benefits of using the place, the top two benefits
for all three places for telework were “shorter travel/commute time” and “ability to concentrate in work” (Figures
14–16). These two can be considered as the benefits of working in a place other than the office, regardless ofthe specific place.
In serviced or shared offices, the top two benefits were followed by “ability to come up with good ideas”(23.2%) and “better work results” (23.2%). These benefits did not rank high in the benefits of other places fortelework (working from home: 10.6% for “ability to come up with good ideas,” 14.8% for “better work results;”
satellite offices: 5.1% and 15.2%, respectively) and are thought to be benefits characteristic of serviced or sharedoffices.
Figure 14: Benefits of Working from Home

Figure 15: Benefits of Serviced or Shared Offices

Figure 16: Benefits of Satellite Offices

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteWe also asked those who chose “difficult to telework in environment of home” in Figure 5 (Specific
Dissatisfaction in Workstyle or Work Environment) the reason for choosing the item. The top reasons included“difficult to switch on and off from work” (49.6%), “do not have desk or chair suited for work” (49.6%), and “donot have own room or study” (39.1%) (Figure 17). Although we indicated the benefits of working from home in
Figure 14, home is a place to live and may lack the appropriate facilities to be used as a place to work.
Figure 17: Dissatisfaction in Working from Home

In view of the above, it would be important for companies not to simply promote telework but to fully
understand the benefits and disadvantages of their offices and various telework measures and provide theiremployees with workplace options so as to facilitate their work.

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
PICK UP
Importance of having options for workplaces
Here we examine the importance of having a wide variety of options for workplaces, from the perspectiveof workers’ nature of work and work type.
We first classified the workers into four groups (from (1) to (4)) based on the nature of their work by asking
them on a 4-point scale whether their work was “creating new value” or “operating or processing.” We thenclassified their work into six types based on “with whom (by oneself; multiple persons within the company;
multiple persons including those outside the company)” and “what kind (create new value; operate orprocess),” and asked the respondents how much percentage of time they spent on each type of work. Figure
18 is the result for each of the four groups of the nature of work.
When we look at the percentage (time) of work types for the “(1) Operating or processing” and “(2)Operating or processing relatively more than creating value” groups, which account for more than 60% of
all respondents, the percentage of “operating or processing by oneself” accounted for the most in bothgroups, as much as a majority (53.7%) in the “(1) Operating or processing” group, in particular. This wasfollowed by “operating or processing with multiple persons within the company.” These two work types
accounted for more than 80% in total in the “(1) Operating or processing” group. Furthermore, since“operating or processing by oneself” and “operating or processing with multiple persons within the company”
each accounted for more than 30% in the “(4) Creating new value” and “(3) Creating new value relatively
more than operating or processing” groups, having a place where one person or multiple persons within
the company can concentrate in their work will be especially important for workers of any type.
The above results also indicate that there was no work type that was not carried out at all by any of thegroups from (1) to (4) and that all workers were engaged in various types of work. For example, as it isdifficult to carry out work by multiple persons in a work-from-home program, it would be important forcompanies to provide a diverse range of workplace options to accommodate various work types, from theperspective of improving workers’ productivity.
Figure 18: Percentage (Time) of Each Work Type(By Nature of Work (Value Creation or Operation/Processing)Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

2．Needs for Workstyles
2-1．Usage rate and needs for workstyle-related measuresThe needs for telework was higher than the current introduction (teleworking) rate, especially in“place for telework,” which was 21.7 points higher than the current usage rate.

The needs exceeded the usage rate in workstyle-related measures, especially in “flextime program,”“work-from-home program,” and “side job.”

There was a large gap between the telework usage rate and needs among female workers with apreschool child. (From “PICK UP” column)

In the previous chapter, we made analyses based on workers’ current workstyles. In this chapter, we will look
into the needs for various workstyles, in addition to the current workstyles.
We first compared the usage rate and needs for different workstyle-related measures by asking which measure
the respondents wanted to use, regardless of their current work or situation (Figure 20). Figure 19 extracted
measures related to telework, as in Figure 7. The results indicate that the needs for telework was larger than theusage rate at 52.9%. Looking at the breakdown, there was no large difference between the current usage rate
and the needs in “mobile work,” while there was a difference of 21.7 percentage points (2.6 times) in “place fortelework,” for which the usage rate was 13.4% and the needs were 35.1%. Although “place for telework”
considerably lags behind “mobile work” in terms of introduction, the needs for a place for telework are at asimilar level.
Figure 19: Usage Rate and Needs for Workstyle-related Measures (Calculation for Telework Measures)*1*3

Refers to “work-from-home program,” “use of serviced office or shared office provided by a specialized
operator,” and “use of satellite office or other similar facility owned or rented by own company.”
Refers to “use of system enabling workers to check emails and schedules anywhere with a smartphone,mobile PC, etc. (mobile work),” “use of system enabling workers to work outside the office in the same
network environment as the office with a smartphone, mobile PC, etc. (mobile work),” and “IT devices suchas smartphones, mobile PCs and tablets are provided by the company to enable mobile work.”

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

When comparing the needs and usage rate of the different measures including measures other than telework,
the needs exceeded the usage rate in all measures (Figure 20). The gap between the usage rate and needs was
especially large in “flextime program,” “work-from-home program,” and “side job.” Since the needs generally
tend to be high if the current usage rate was high, it is possible that the needs for measures that have not been
introduced are not manifested as it is difficult to get a picture of how to use the measure or the benefits gained
from introducing the measure. For example, the reason for the low needs for serviced offices or shared offices
may be due to the fact that such offices are not yet widespread.
Figure 20: Usage Rate and Needs for Workstyle-related Measures (Details)*2 Workation: A portmanteau of working vacation, meaning to work from a travel destination, etc.
*4 Flexible layout: Hot desks, group hot desks, open meeting space, space for refreshing, ABW, canteen, café
space, etc.
*5 Satellite office: An office located near a major railway station or the suburbs for the benefit of employees’commuting time, equipped with facilities similar to those of the main office.
*6 Regardless of contract terms such as shared use with another company or dedicated section for own company.

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright ©2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

PICK UP
Attributes of Workers with Teleworking Needs
Thus far we have identified that the needs for a place for telework was large. Who specifically has suchneeds?
We compared the usage rate and needs of workers for a place for telework by the status of the youngest
child (from preschool to working adult) living in the same household (Figure 21). The usage rate of female
workers was generally low, regardless of the status of the child, and the gap between the usage rate andthe needs was the largest among female workers living with a preschool child, with the usage rate at 10.4%
and the needs the highest at 57.1%. This indicates that although telework is believed to enable workers witha preschool child to balance childcare and work, places for telework have not yet been provided enough toaccommodate the needs.
Figure 21: Usage Rate and Needs for “Place for Telework” (By Youngest Child Living Together)Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

2-2．Interest in work location


Workers are more interested in “working in an area near home to achieve proximity between
workplace and home” (75.9%) than “working in the city center where people and functions areconcentrated” (58.9%).

Figure 22 shows how much the respondents are interested in the five options concerning work location.
Of the five options, workers were interested the most in “work in an area near home to achieve proximity
between workplace and home,” with the sum of “interested” and “somewhat interested” amounting to 75.9%.
There was a difference of 17.0 points from “work in the city center where people and functions areconcentrated” (58.9%), which indicates that, combined with the needs for working from home as we saw inFigure 20, workers are more interested in working close to home than in the city center.
Furthermore, amid the gradual spread of telework, more than 40% of the workers showed an interest in“dual-location work” (47.8%) and “workation” (44.3%), which are more advanced workstyles than telework.
This indicates that these are attracting attention as new workstyles not bound to geographic area.
Figure 22: Interest in Work Location*2

Workation: A portmanteau of working vacation, meaning to work from a travel destination, etc.

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

3．Satisfaction, well-being
 Only one in two workers were satisfied with their current workstyle or thought their workstyle orwork environment was good for their physical and mental well-being.

 When comparing workers who used a place for telework and those who did not, there was a large
gap in their satisfaction in their workstyle and their evaluation of their well-being.

In the previous chapter, we described workers’ needs for telework and the values they held in the place towork. Then, to what degree are workers satisfied with their current workstyle? We looked into the relationshipbetween workers’ workstyles and their degree of satisfaction.
As for the workers’ satisfaction in their current workstyle, the percentage of workers who replied they were
either “satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” was 54.1% (Figure 23). In view of the fact that one in two people weredissatisfied, companies are faced with the need to change their traditional workstyles.
Figure 23: Satisfaction in Workstyle

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

There is actually a difference of 20.5 points in workers’ satisfaction in telework, in which workers have highneeds, between the implementation statuses (Figure 24 (upper two bars)), indicating that carrying out
telework measures will be effective for improving workers’ satisfaction in their workstyles. When focusing on“place for telework,” the difference in satisfaction was 24.6 points (Figure 24 (lower two bars)).
Figure 24: Satisfaction (By Teleworking Status)*1

Refers to “work-from-home program,” “use of serviced office or shared office provided by a specialized
operator,” and “use of satellite office or other similar facility owned or rented by own company.”

We then asked the workers whether they thought their current workstyle or work environment was good fortheir physical and mental well-being. The percentage of those who replied “good” or “somewhat good” was
56.3%, revealing that the situation should be improved urgently as nearly half of the workers, as in the degreeof satisfaction, thought their workstyle or work environment was “not good (or not that good)” (Figure 25).
Figure 25: Well-being

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteSeparately, we asked the respondents to describe the reason why they replied that their current workstyle orwork environment was “(somewhat) good” or “not (that) good” for their physical and mental well-being. Manycited “commute” as the reason for being both good and bad, which suggests that commuting stress is a factor
that affects workers’ well-being. Other reasons for being good for well-being that workers place importance on
include a good corporate culture and an environment where workers can work with autonomy. On the other
hand, popular reasons for being bad for well-being included dissatisfactions in the facilities and tangible aspectsof the office, indicating that there is room for improvement in these areas. The following are some of the replies.
■Reference material■ Description of reason for being good or bad for well-being (excerpt)<Reasons for being good for well-being>I do not get tired from commuting since I can work from home.



There is no stress from commute since I work flex time.

Commuting is easy since the workplace is close from home.



There is a culture of allowing freedom in anything.



The workplace environment is open and relationships between employees are good.



I can work at my own pace.



I can work without being pressed since work is left to the discretion of each individual.

<Reasons for being bad for well-being>Commute is long.



I waste my energy in a long commute in a packed train.

I must commute in a crowded train.



There is no space to refresh oneself.

The building is old and dirty with bad ventilation.



Air conditioning does not work well.

Work is inefficient since it is based on the assumption that work is done in the office and cannot be done outside.

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteWe also compared workers’ evaluation of well-being by teleworking status and the use of a place for telework,and found a difference in evaluation as in the results for satisfaction (Figure 26). In particular, the use of a place
for telework is thought to lead to less commuting stress, which was cited as a factor that affects well-being.
There was actually a 24.2-point difference depending on the usage status (Figure 26 (lower two bars)).
These results suggest that providing a place for telework is important from the perspective of worker
satisfaction as well as of well-being.
Figure 26: Well-being (By Teleworking Status)*1

Refers to “work-from-home program,” “use of serviced office or shared office provided by a specialized
operator,” and “use of satellite office or other similar facility owned or rented by own company.”

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

4．Future Workstyles


The top replies of workers’ ideal future society or workstyle were, “commuter trains are lesscongested, enabling workers to make the most of the commute time” (85.3%), “total work hours areshorter, enabling workers to spend more time other than in work” (84.1%), “there are more places
where one can work near the home, resulting in less commuting stress (83.7%), and “it is easier tobalance child/elder care and work” (83.6%), which indicate workers’ interest in reducing commuting
stress and improving work-life balance.

Lastly, we will look into workers’ values concerning the future society and workstyles in 2025.
We asked the workers how they felt about several projected future workstyles on a scale of “good,” “somewhat
good,” “not that good,” to “not good.” When focusing on the sum of “good” and “somewhat good” future
workstyles the top replies were “commuter trains are less congested, enabling workers to make the most of thecommute time” (85.3%), “total work hours are shorter, enabling workers to spend more time other than in work”(84.1%), “there are more places where one can work near the home, resulting in less commuting stress (83.7%),
and “it is easier to balance child/elder care and work” (83.6%), which indicate workers’ interest in reducing
commuting stress and improving work-life balance (Figure 27).
Figure 27: Workers’ Values toward Future Society and Workstyles

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

5．SummaryIn this report, we examined the reality of office workers’ workstyles and looked into the benefits andimportance of providing places for telework, in particular, based on the relationship with workers’ degree ofsatisfaction, among others.
From the status of workstyle reform initiatives of workers’ employers and workers themselves, we foundthat the largest portion of workers replied that their workstyle had not changed even if their employer wascarrying out workstyle reforms and that there remained a gap between between workstyle reforms andworkers’ actual workstyles amid the spread of companies’ initiatives in the reforms.*7 Furthermore, ouranalysis revealed that, while the usage rate of telework has grown to around 40%, the main telework measurethat is being used is “mobile work,” with only around 10% of workers being provided with workplace options
such as the home, serviced or shared offices, and satellite offices.
Meanwhile, the needs for flexible workstyles including telework are higher than the current usage rates. In
particular, there is currently a large gap between the usage rate and needs for a place for telework amongfemale workers with a preschool child, indicating that a further spread of telework is desired for women withsmall children to balance childcare and work. In addition, there is a large interest not only among workers
with small children but in general in working in an area near the home (proximity between workplace andhome) than in working in the city center, which is proof of the needs for a wide range of work locations,
including the suburbs. Furthermore, our analysis pointed out that workers’ values concerning workstyles andwork locations are diversifying, as a certain number of them are interested in dual-location work andworkation, which are workstyles not bound to their usual place of residence or workplace.
We also found that there was a difference in workers’ degree of satisfaction and evaluation of theirworkstyle and environment in terms of well-being depending on how much the worker used workstylemeasures carried out by the company. In particular, workers who used a place for telework tended to have ahigher degree of satisfaction in their workstyle and a higher evaluation toward well-being.
However, what is important is not simply promoting telework but to provide in an integrated manner anenvironment that facilitates workers to work. For example, in the question asking workers about theirdissatisfaction in their current workstyle and work environment, many workers replied that “officeenvironment of company/organization is inadequate.” Developing an environment of an office that will be
the main workplace and a place for employees to gather should continue to be focused on, in addition toproviding places for telework. In this survey, we found that workers of all natures of work engaged in various
types of work. Companies providing a wide range of spaces suitable for all work types in their main office toprovide workstyle and work location options for workers may be the first step to developing a worker-friendly
environment in an integrated manner. After doing so, they should start to provide various options outside
the main office, such as serviced or shared offices and satellite offices, as ways to alleviate workers’commuting stress and respond to their needs to work close from home.
In this report, we focused on the effectiveness of companies providing various work location options toworkers. However, the true objective of companies is to ensure that workers are fulfilled both physically andmentally and can work productively. In order to achieve this objective, it will not be enough for companies tosimply introduce programs and equipment related to workstyles but will be as important to continue
operating and improving the programs and equipment from the perspective of the workers, who are theGreater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Instituteusers. Furthermore, we identified in this survey that workers’ needs for a place for telework remained at 35.1%,
which is higher than the current usage rate but means that a little more than 60% of the workers are notconscious of their work environment. For companies’ initiatives to become more effective, it may also benecessary for the workers to choose their workstyle and work location autonomously and be more aware ofleading it to improving their productivity and creating value. Xymax Real Estate Institute will continue to
conduct company surveys and worker surveys in parallel to capture the effect of such changes in awarenessand demand on workers’ work location.
*7 From Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019, released on November 27, 2019

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
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RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
Survey Overview
Survey period: October 2019 / Area: Greater Tokyo (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba prefectures) / Method: Online survey
Targets of the survey: (1) Screening: 20,000 men and women aged between 15 and 69; (2) Main survey: Valid responses
were obtained from 2,060 men and women aged between 20 and 69 whose profession is officer or staff of a company ororganization, whose job category is managerial, specialized or technical, clerical or sales, and whose regular workplace is in
Greater Tokyo (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba prefectures).

Attributes of Respondents
Male aged 20–29

Gender and
age

％

n

2.5%

51

Male aged 30–39

8.3%

Male aged 40–49

21.7%

Male aged 50–59

24.2%

Male aged 60 or above％n

Officer of company/organization

7.3%

151

171

Staff of company/organization(management)

24.6%

507

499

(Regular staff other than management)

53.7%

1,107

Staff of company/organization

14.3%

295

Form of446
Staff of company/organization
employment

9.9%

204

66.6%

1,371

Female aged 20–29

7.3%

150

Manufacturing

31.1%

640

Female aged 30–39

10.2%

210

Service, infrastructure

26.2%

539

Female aged 40–49

9.4%

193

Trading company

5.2%

107

Female aged 50–59

5.6%

115

Retail2.3%

48

Female aged 60 or above

1.0%

21

IT, info processing, software

17.4%

359

(Male total)(Female total)(Other than regular staff)

Industry

33.4%

689

Advertisement, publishing, media

1.5%

30

Company manager

3.5%

72

Finance, insurance

9.5%

195

Department head or equivalentManagerial
Section head or equivalent
position
Team head or equivalent

11.7%

242

Other

6.9%

142

16.9%

349

1-9

8.3%

170

12.9%

266

10-49

13.1%

269

Not in managerial position

54.9%

1,131

50-99

8.5%

175

Management

2.7%

55 Number of 100-299

13.8%

284

Corporate planning4.0%

82 employees 300-999

16.1%

331

Technical R&D

11.1%

229

1,000-2,999

11.2%

231

3,000 or more

26.1%

538

Don't know

3.0%

62

Planning, development, marketingof products & services

5.3%

109

Sales

20.6%

424

Preschool

10.3%

213

6.7%

138

Elementary school student

8.3%

170

3.8%

78 (Youngest) Junior high school student

5.3%

110

Finance & accounting

7.4%

153 child living Student of high school or above

10.3%

212

Legal affairs

1.0%

21 together

Working adult

8.6%

177

Systems

10.3%

212

No child living together

6.6%

135

Other clerical job

16.6%

342

No child

50.6%

1,043

Other

10.5%

217

Job
Administration
category
HR, labor

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

Contact for inquiries concerning this report
Xymax Real Estate Institutehttps://soken.xymax.co.jp| E-MAIL: info-rei@xymax.co.jp

Greater Tokyo Office Worker Survey 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright ©2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

26