Image credit – Taisei
While sometimes working overtime is necessary to get the job done and to meet deadlines, over in Japan, working overtime is sort of part of the working culture. Unsurprisingly this has some negative consequences to it, but it is also something that the Japanese government is trying to cut back on.
In fact Japanese company Taisei (the company behind the main Tokyo 2020 Olympic stadium) has created a drone (via Engadget) designed to curb overtime. While the drone is used for surveillance and security, it has also been used to help to encourage workers who are working late to go home. How is this done? Basically the drone will fly around the office and blast the “Auld Lang Syne” song, which is typically used in Japan to indicate closing time.
Presumably the idea is that when workers hear the music, they’ll get an idea that maybe they’ve been working too long and it is time to clock out. Also the noise from the drone will also make working a bit hard to concentrate on, thus forcing workers to go home. Taisei plans on making the drone and its service available to Japanese companies starting April 2018 where it will be priced at around $443 a month.
Whether or not this drone will prove to be an effective measure to get workers to go home remains to be seen, but if anything you can applaud the Japanese for their creativity.