Very interesting news from Japan from CNN.com today. Giant electronics manufacturer Canon is encouraging their employees to check out from office early twice a week to give their employees some headstart to “pro-create”. In a country where time is very essential and every second in the office LITERALLY counts, it is surprising that Canon is cutting back on its own bundy clocks to give Japan’s population a boost.

You’ve probably heard news that older Japanese people comprise majority of Japan’s population. This means that in about 30 or so years Japan may probably be underpopulated. This is bad for a country whose main product is through manufacturing.

In a country where 12-hour workdays are common, the electronics giant has taken to letting its employees leave early twice a week for a rather unusual reason: to encourage them to have more babies.

“Canon has a very strong birth planning program,” says the company’s spokesman Hiroshi Yoshinaga. “Sending workers home early to be with their families is a part of it.”

Japan in the midst of an unprecedented recession, so corporations are being asked to work toward fixing another major problem: the country’s low birthrate.

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