Japanese Companies Helping Employees Volunteer for Olympics

September 27, 2018

Tokyo- Major Japanese companies are helping employees join the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics as volunteers, with the organizers starting their search for 80,000 volunteers Wednesday.

Some are planning to send volunteers gathered from among their own workers, while others, particularly in industries struggling with labor shortages, are concerned about temporary falls in the workforce during the games.

Fujitsu Ltd.  solicited volunteers this spring, attracting about 2,000 applications. The computer maker has selected over 300 employees as members of its volunteer team.

At the team's launch ceremony in July, President Tatsuya Tanaka said, "I hope you'll pass on to the next generation your once-in-lifetime experience, which will be our company's legacy."

Brokerage giant Nomura Holdings Inc. has also picked 300 employees through an internal application process to volunteer for the 2020 Games.

Food maker Meiji Co., a unit of Meiji Holdings Co., started a similar process last week, with a view to sending 300 volunteers.

Among other major companies, Toyota Motor Corp. and food maker Ajinomoto Co. plan to send several hundred group workers and a hundred employees as volunteers, respectively.

Mizuho Financial Group Inc. is considering opening up an employee training facility in Tokyo to provide accommodation for workers from other parts of the country who volunteer for the Tokyo Games.

ANA Holdings Inc., the parent of All Nippon Airways, plans to allow employees to take paid leave for volunteering at the event. It is also looking at the idea of counting several volunteering days as on-duty days.

On the other hand, one major logistics company is struggling to decide its response to employees' wish to participate in the Olympics and Paralympics as volunteers.

"We'd be pleased to see our employees gain precious experiences if possible," an official said. There are concerns, however, that strict traffic controls during the event period may lead to delays in its delivery services. "In that case," the official said, "we can't afford volunteering."

A major hotel in Tokyo is also worried about volunteering by its workers during the busy Olympic and Paralympic period. "We can't block volunteering, so we will try to gently persuade (our workers) by telling them that they can exercise hospitality while at work," an official said. Jiji Press