Yahoo – AFP,
May 22, 2017
Workaholic Japan is known for long office hours and stressed out employees, but one company claims to have a cure: Cats.
A cat walks across the desk at an IT office in Tokyo, where felines help alleviate stress and anxiety (AFP Photo/YOKO AKIYOSHI) |
Workaholic Japan is known for long office hours and stressed out employees, but one company claims to have a cure: Cats.
A total of
nine fluffy felines eat, sleep and walk freely in the small office of IT firm
Ferray in Tokyo.
Hidenobu
Fukuda, who heads the firm, introduced an "office cat" policy in 2000
upon request from one of his employees, allowing staffers to bring their
moggies to work.
"I
also give 5,000 yen ($45) a month to those who rescue a cat," he said of
his charges.
Other
Japanese companies are also allowing animals in the office to help reduce
stress and anxiety.
At Oracle
Japan, an Old English Sheepdog named Candy works as a "greeting and
healing ambassador", according to the company website.
A total of
nine fluffy felines eat, sleep and walk freely in the small office
of IT firm
Ferray in Tokyo (AFP Photo/YOKO AKIYOSHI)
|
The company
said it has had an office dog since 1991, and Candy, the fourth one, now has
Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Meanwhile,
Pasona Group "hired" two goats in 2011 and two alpacas in 2013 as
full-time employees, partly for healing purposes.
Tokyo is
also home to some 60 registered cat cafes, thanks to a growing number of feline
lovers.
Eri Ito,
who works at Ferray, says she is sold on the animal's soothing ways.
"Cats
are sleeping just beside us... It's healing," Ito said.
But there
is also a downside to having felines in the office, Fukuda admitted.
"Sometimes
a cat will walk on a phone and cut off the call, or they shut down the
computers by walking onto the off switch," he said.
Feline good? Cats help workaholic Japanese counter stress https://t.co/Xt55c2JRFr pic.twitter.com/RFh1I6joPe— AFP news agency (@AFP) May 22, 2017
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