Call centres expose fault line in Japan’s pandemic fight

TOKYO: Almost a month after Tokyo declared a state of emergency, dozens of call centre employees for telecom KDDI Corp still commute into their crowded office, where the fear of coronavirus infection has taken a back seat to data security.

Call centres have exposed one of the fault lines in Japan’s fight against the pandemic, as it takes a less forceful approach than many countries. In the past few weeks, 17 infections were confirmed at a post office call centre in the northern island of Hokkaido and 11 at a Kyoto mail-order business.

Japan Inc has been reluctant to embrace telecommuting, with firms citing concerns about data security. Companies also fear a decline in worker productivity and customer service.