Who Actually Wants to Work *More* in Japan?

Turns out some people here want *more* overtime, and the women are absolutely crushing it.

Who are these people?

A recent University of Tokyo study asked people if they wanted to change their working hours, and I'm sure you can guess the answer. The vast majority of us want to work the same or, ideally, less. Please.

But a tiny, mysterious group said they wanted to work *more*. We're talking 3% of men and 6% of women. While most of us are calculating the exact last train we can catch, these folks are apparently asking to stay later. 🤔

It's not who you think, though. It isn't the salaried *seishain* who's already living at the office. Only 1-2% of them wanted more hours. The ones asking for more are overwhelmingly part-time and contract workers — about 12-13% of them. Basically, people with lower personal incomes who need to work more to make ends meet. It's less about a passion for spreadsheets and more about paying rent.

So what happened next?

The researchers actually followed up two years later to see if these ambitious few got their wish. And this is where it gets interesting. Women were way more successful. 63% of the women who wanted more hours actually got them, compared to just 25.8% of men.

And the difference is kind of staggering. The men who managed to work more added an average of 5.1 hours to their month. Okay, an extra hour a week, I see it. The women? They added an average of **19.4 hours** per month. That's basically a whole extra part-time job stacked on top of their old one.

The plot twist

So why the huge gap? It wasn't just about picking up a few extra shifts at the café. A huge number of these women—over 27%—achieved the increase by switching from non-regular employment to a full-time, regular position.

They didn't just want a few more hours; they wanted a different career track entirely, and a significant chunk of them actually made the jump. So while half the workforce is dreaming of shorter days, there's this whole other group fighting tooth and nail just to get more time on the clock. What a place.