Japanese technology company Fujitsu will cut its office space in Japan by half over the next three years, Nikkei has learned, a move that may herald a new trend among large Japanese companies as the novel coronavirus encourages companies to reassess how they operate.

Fujitsu has already decided to make teleworking a standard practice and it has introduced a policy requiring the number of employees in its offices at any one time to be limited to just a quarter of the total.

The Tokyo-based company will reduce the office space it leases gradually until it drops to half the amount it currently occupies. Fujitsu leases most of its office space. It plans to end some rental contracts, which will help the company save money.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Fujitsu has encouraged its 85,000 employees in Japan, other than factory workers, to do their jobs from home. The policy remained in place even after the government lifted its state of emergency in May.

The company is embracing remote work in a break from the traditional approach taken by Japanese companies. Even before the pandemic, work hours were flexible at Fujitsu, company officials said.

Fujitsu will revamp its personnel system so that work can be performed remotely and enable employees to be evaluated by their bosses without having them in the office, the officials added.