[originaltext]The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare released the

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare released the government’s first report this October, and it found that nearly one in four companies have some employees who work more than 80 hours of overtime per month. Are the long-working Japanese any more productive than their global counterparts? I don’t think so. [19] Indeed, there’s a growing body of evidence to suggest that working longer hours is not only bad for our health, but also detrimental for our careers and poor for a company’s overall productivity.
If there’s another country that’s notorious for its long work hours and lack of time off, it’s the United States. A recent Gallup poll found that the average full-time employee in the US works a 47-hour week, nearly a full workday longer than the standard nine-to-five schedule. Moreover, nearly one in five workers reports working 60 hours or more per week. Despite sacrificing time off with family and friends to toil away in the office, [20] a separate report from the US-based campaign Project Time Off discovered that long-working office martyrs were less likely than their peers to have received a bonus in the last three years. We actually find that people who take more time off—11 days or more—are more likely to get a raise or bonus than people who take 10 or fewer days. So if you’re not getting ahead—and we find no correlation between hours worked and getting ahead—then what are you doing it for?
There are remedies to overworking. [21] For instance, many of us believe we need to be in the office both when our boss shows up and when he or she leaves. However, that’s a big (and often misguided) assumption. Maybe your boss wants the place to herself in the morning and she’s actually annoyed that you’re getting there early, too. Major Japanese corporations have actually taken a lead on the issue. [22] Toyota now limits overtime to 360 hours a year (or an average of 30 hours monthly), while ad agency Dentsu just released an eight-point plan (including regular vacation encouragement and lights out at the office by 22:00) to improve its work environment after the high-profile suicide of one of its employees.
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the recording you have just heard.
19.What does the speaker think of working longer hours?
20.What does the Project Time Off discover?
21.What is the big assumption that most of us believe?
22.What does Toyota do to solve the problem mentioned in the recording?