"Return to the Office": Sony Semiconductor Joins Wave of Japanese Companies Returning to In-Office Work

Expansion of Private Workspaces for Individual Tasks
In-Office Work Trend Led by Major Corporations
Japan Turns Attention to Remote Work Inefficiencies

As major Japanese companies are reducing remote work and shifting back to office attendance, Sony Group’s semiconductor subsidiary has also decided to switch approximately 8,000 employees to an in-office work system.

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on September 27, Sony Semiconductor Solutions reorganized its structure to strengthen cross-departmental collaboration for new research and development initiatives, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) for physical AI applications that move robots and machines. As part of this, the company has decided to transition approximately 8,000 employees, in principle, to an office-based work system.

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Japanese Companies Expand Employee Benefits, Such as Lunch Allowances

This move is interpreted as a response to the judgment that, when conducting joint research or launching new businesses that require novel ideas beyond departmental boundaries, coordination and decision-making can take longer in a remote working environment.

With the switch to in-office work, the company plans to create communication spaces for casual conversations and to increase the number of private rooms for employees to focus on their work individually. To reduce the burden of commuting, lunch allowances will be provided, and remote work will be permitted for employees who need to care for children or family members who are ill.

Not only is collaboration between internal departments essential, but such cooperation is also critical in working with external companies. In August, Sony Semiconductor Solutions reached an agreement with Taiwan’s TSMC for the mass production of next-generation image sensors. Next month, it is scheduled to begin a joint factory automation support project with Mitsubishi Electric.

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Shift Towards In-Office Work Led by Large Japanese Corporations

Not only Sony, but many major Japanese corporations, are moving to scale back remote work arrangements introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and return employees to office-based work.

IT company LINE Yahoo, starting in April last year, required employees in some departments to come into the office once a week or once a month, but since May this year, it shifted to requiring office attendance three times per week.

Global consulting firm Accenture effectively abolished remote work starting from June last year. Confectionery company Calbee also expanded its office space in May last year to secure workstations for all employees, thereby encouraging office-based work.

A local corporate HR representative explained that the introduction of remote work improved time efficiency and accelerated decision-making, but also noted that middle managers have taken on greater burdens in tracking work progress and understanding team members’ situations.

Hiroki Sato, a professor at the University of Tokyo, pointed out that although remote work has become established, many companies lack proper management and rules, and there is a tendency to mistakenly attribute declines in productivity due to the absence of proper systems or regulations to the nature of remote work itself.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.