From New Normal to New Work?
Insights from Japan and Germany

Now online on our YouTube channel.

Speakers

Andrea Hammermann, German Economic Institute

“Corona impact on work organisations in Germany” (PDF)

Nobuko Nagase, Ochanomizu University

Michael Johannes Pils, Taylor Wessing

“Next Normal? Working with Corona” (PDF)

Chisako Takaya, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto

“From New Normal to New Work?” (PDF)

moderated by Franz Waldenberger, DIJ

Due to the corona pandemic, work organization has been subject to dramatic change, and teleworking from home offices had to be suddenly implemented to keep businesses running. Mobile working, software-based collaboration, web-based meetings and new means of performance control were installed at a large scale. Have we suddenly reached the long-discussed digital future of work? Or is this only a temporary phase, and work life will return to what it was before the pandemic?

Our speakers outlined the major changes in the organization of work caused by the pandemic in Japan and Germany. They also discussed to what extent national regulations have been obstructing, shaping or supporting respective adjustments and assessed to what extent the newly introduced workstyles can be expected to last.

Introducing the speakers and the moderator

Andrea Hammermann has been a senior economist in the field of labour market and personnel economics at the German Economic Institute since 2013. She focuses on developments of the German labour market driven by demographic, social and digital transformations. Andrea analyses empirically the impact of work environment on employees’ well-being and organizational success as well as the role of human resources policy.

Nobuko Nagase is Professor at Ochanomizu University. She has written about work and family from an Asian perspective, comparing Japan with other East Asian and Western economies. She has conducted empirical studies on childcare supply, the public pension system, long-term care insurance, childcare leave and other institutional features of the Japanese system. Results of her research have been published in various scholarly journals, including Japanese Economic Journal, Journal of Population Problem, Econometric Review, and Quarterly Journal of Social Policy. She was an Abe Fellow at Harvard University in the second half of 2013 and the summer of 2015, as well as at Cornell University in the first half of 2014.

Michael Johannes Pils is a lawyer and partner at Taylor Wessing in Dusseldorf. He is a recognized expert in providing advice on all matters relating to labour and employment law, especially with respect to national and international company acquisitions as well as post-merger integration. Michael also focuses on projects relating to digital transformation, occupational safety and health, HR compliance, as well as corporate pension schemes. At Taylor Wessing, he is co-heading the Japan Desk. Michael is also a member of the executive board of the Deutsch-Japanischen Gesellschaft für Arbeitsrecht e.V. (German-Japanese Society for Employment Law).

Chisako Takaya is a lawyer and partner at Mori Hamada & Matsumoto in Tokyo. Chisako has practiced for more than 20 years in the fields of labour and employment, cross border transactions, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters. She is a well-known experienced litigator, mainly representing employer in the labour disputes. She is also serving as chair of the Labour Issue Committee of Daini Tokyo Bar Association.

Franz Waldenberger is Director of the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) in Tokyo. He is on leave from Munich University where he holds a professorship for Japanese Economy. His research focuses on the Japanese Economy, Corporate Governance and International Management. He is editor-in-chief of the international peer reviewed journal Contemporary Japan. His recent publications include Governance, Risk and Financial Impact of Mega Disasters. Lessons from Japan, Springer 2019 (co-edited with A. Kamesaka).