By Sakura Murakami and Belén Carreño

TOKYO (Reuters). – Four days a work week. No meetings. You choose your hours and go where you wish to work.

A transition to more flexible working hours has been accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic. This opens up new ways of working which were not possible just a few decades ago.

Meghana Reddy (vice president, video messaging company Loom), stated that “the traditional model of work has been broken.” She spoke at the Reuters Next conference.

I believe there is a great opportunity to say “Let’s make work fit in our lives better than we trying to fit work into our lives.”

Loom is now flexible and employees are free to move around the country without fear. The number of meetings has been cut to an absolute minimum.

Jin Montesano (Chief People Officer, luxury toilet manufacturer Lixil Group Corp) is far removed from Silicon Valley’s model of flexibility. However, Jin Montesano has successfully brought worker-centred strategies to one Japan’s most prominent companies while still maintaining traditional “salaryman” culture.

Japan’s rigid structure is well-known. Long hours in the office was a sign of a strong work ethic. Recent years have seen the rise in suicides or health concerns among employees, which has forced Japan to reconsider its work culture.

Lixil decided not to have core working hours or morning meetings and instead reexamined the idea of an office.

Montesano stated that “it’s not the right place to work…wherever it gets work done is where I work.” He was speaking during a discussion about the Future of Work. The office should be seen as an area for communication, collaboration and brainstorming. It must also have the ability to connect with people in a way that is deeper than you can online.

Desigual, a Spanish brand of high-end clothing, introduced last month a 4-day workweek at its Barcelona headquarters. This raised expectations and helped to raise hopes in Europe’s political arena.

Employees can work from home on any one of the other working days, and no employee is allowed to work Fridays. Employers overwhelmingly agreed to the 6.5% pay cut and the company has paid half of the 13% reduction in hours.

Three executives agreed on the importance of their strategies in attracting new talent during times of worry about millions of employees leaving their jobs.

The main challenge faced by women entrepreneurs was to reconcile customer service needs or work in shops or factories.

Coral Alcaraz from Desigual is Chief People Officer and said they were crucially important to address: “The future for work isn’t the future anymore.”