Breaking News English

Japanese company allow pets into the office

Dogs in Offices - Level 4

Coronavirus changed working conditions worldwide. Millions of us now work remotely at home. The Japanese technology giant Fujitsu is trialling an idea to get workers back into the office. They will let workers bring their pet dog to work. Members of staff can return to their office with their pet. Fujitsu hopes its workers will feel more comfortable in the workplace. It hopes more people will give up working remotely from home.

Japan's workforce is known for working long hours in offices. Many workers now work at home. They think this is better than the two-hour commute from the suburbs. They also like spending more time with their pet. The dog office trial may change this. One Fujitsu worker said he could communicate more with other workers with the help of the dogs. The Fujitsu office has space for up to six dogs. It also has stain-proof carpets and pet supplies.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3    |     Speed 4

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Dogs in Offices - Level 5

Coronavirus has changed working conditions worldwide. Millions of us switched from working in offices to working remotely at home. A Japanese company has a new measure to entice workers back into the office. The technology giant Fujitsu will let some workers bring their pet dog to work. Executives set up an experimental "dog office" at a building near Tokyo. Members of staff can return to their office and bring their dog with them. It is part of a trial to make workers more comfortable in the workplace. More people may give up working remotely from home.

Japan's workforce is well known for working long hours. The pandemic changed this. Many workers now work from home. They think that working remotely is better than their two-hour commute from the suburbs. They like the idea of spending more quality time with their pet. Fujitsu hopes its experiment will get workers back to the office. One worker said he could "communicate with other people with the help of our dogs". Reuters says the Fujitsu "dog office" has space for up to six dogs. It also has stain-proof carpets and different pet supplies.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3    |     Speed 4

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Dogs in Offices - Level 6

The coronavirus pandemic has changed working conditions worldwide. Millions of people have switched from working in their offices to working remotely at home. A Japanese company has initiated a novel measure to entice workers back into the office. The technology giant Fujitsu is allowing some of its workers to bring their pet dogs to work with them. Executives set up an experimental "dog office" at a building in Kawasaki, near Tokyo. Members of staff are being encouraged to return to the office by bringing their dogs to work. It is part of a trial aimed at making workers more comfortable in the workplace. More people may be willing to give up working remotely from home.

Japan's workforce is renowned for spending long hours in the office. The pandemic greatly changed this. Many workers started working from home. They preferred this new culture of teleworking. They also decided that working remotely was better than enduring two-hour commutes from the suburbs. They got attached to the idea of spending more quality time with their pets. Fujitsu's experiment is an incentive for workers to return to the office and be with their pooches. One worker said he could "communicate with other people with the help of our dogs". Reuters says the Fujitsu "dog office" has space for up to six dogs "and features stain-proof carpets and a range of pet supplies".

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3    |     Speed 4

MORE

25 online activities    |    27-page printable    |    2-page mini-lesson