Japan’s corporate culture is undergoing a significant change. With summer time temperature surges, many Tokyo-based companies are loosening their strict workplace appearance regulations. In fact, office staff are now more commonly seen wearing shorts and lightweight shirts instead of formal clothes. They can also be seen around with comfortable sneakers and other styles without a necktie which all signify the increased attention on the comfort, output, and weather adaptation of its employees.
Japans business circle has been strongly connected to the business dress code and formal office fashion throughout the last four decades. It was considered a sign of professionalism and a company’s disciplined environment by dressing businesspeople in dark suits, crisp white shirts, and polish shoes together with neckties. But now, with the rising heat summers and the workplace’s expectations’ change, the companies are questioning and changing the type of clothing that represents a professional image at the workplace.
Apart from Tokyo where this transformation is more obvious because of the very hot and humid summer days with air temperature often climbing up to 35, the high humidity makes commuting in business attire unbearable for many workers. As a result, many organizations recognize that lightweight clothes enable workers to remain comfortable over the entire work-day without sacrificing office professionalism.
A very obvious and major part of the change is the growing acceptance of office dress codes which do not require wearing a tie on a regular basis. This change has been inspired by the country’s ongoing “Cool Biz” campaign which encourages businesses to save the energy by turning down the air-conditioning. By letting an employee take off the jacket and necktie, the temperature inside the office can be slightly raised to save energy consumption at the workplace while at the same time improving the employees’ comfort.
Currently, the change is not only being limited to the tie. Many companies that do business mainly through their staffs without direct interaction with clients are now allowing employees to wear smart shorts, breathable polos, lightweight jeans, or clean tennis shoes on a regular workplace basis. From a hard dress code, it is now a transition of getting comfortable clothes that promote not only the work atmosphere of an employee but also the productivity level of the company.
Apart from casual work attire that employees now enjoy wearing is the comfort and style factors that have made sneakers the main symbol here. Sneakers that were previously considered too informal for a workplace are now the go-to footwear for many professional-casual outfits in offices where workers wear nothing but business-casual. As the long travel time is a norm in a metro where most people walk quite a bit and take public transport, the employees are very grateful for the level of comfort that the new attire brings which also saves on footwear.
Sure, the increasing popularity of the mixed workplace also plays a role here. While an employee is working from home some times and a corporate office most of the time, the workplace’s expectations are not very strict. As a result, many workplaces are now using dress codes based more on the type and level of the daily responsibilities of their employees rather than keeping a rigid requirement like everyone in an organization dressing formally at the workplace every time.
Academicians of Human Resources think the change represents the larger transformation taking place in the work culture. Workplaces are finally understanding that happiness and well-being of the employees Really drive not only employee motivation and job satisfaction but also productivity and creativity of work. In turn, giving freedom about clothing decisions can lead a change in the employee comfort level and be instrumental in helping a workplace attract a younger generation that appreciates a modern and progressive company ethos.
Another contributing factor which has been instrumental in this development is the climate. Japan has been suffering more than before Recently from a succession of severe heatwaves that have been extremely intense which forced officials concerned with public health to advise actions that can minimize the risk of getting heat illnesses. One of the ways of reacting to the changes in the environment was to have a more casual office dress code.
