A Japanese telecommunications giant is rolling out a plan to reimburse commutes for 30,000 employees — including plane rides to the office

• Japanese telco giant NTT will start treating office commutes as business trips, per Kyodo News.
• Starting in July, NTT is slated to reimburse 30,000 employees for the cost of their commutes.

At Japanese telecommunications giant NTT, remote work is the new norm — and the commute is the new business trip.

Starting from July, NTT will reimburse domestic employees for their commute to the office — even if they're a plane ride away, Kyodo News reported, citing a source familiar with the matter. Employees can work from anywhere in Japan, and the company will pay for accommodation when employees need to return to the office.

The company will roll out the program to 30,000 of its employees in Japan before expanding it, per the report. NTT said in September that it was considering allowing all of its 320,000 employees worldwide to work remotely.

NTT's flexible work program is aimed at attracting and retaining talent amid a labor crunch in Japan, according to Kyodo. That's as Japan faces a labor shortage due to a rapidly aging society and a large pool of women who leave their jobs after marriage due to cultural expectations.

NTT's program also comes two years after the COVID-19 pandemic forced much of the world's labor force to work from home, prompting some to rethink their priorities and purpose in life. This led to a Great Resignation in the US and other parts of the world. Many workers in Japan are also questioning the country's intense work culture and corporate life in the wake of the pandemic, The New York Times reported in April.

As the pandemic eases, corporate leaders are debating bringing the workforce back to the office after two years of pandemic-induced remote work.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said last week he was doing "everything" he could to get staff to return to the office — but that they're not returning "at the level" he wants. To get employees back to the office, Tesla CEO Elon Musk issued an ultimatum to executive staff earlier this month, telling them to return to the office or quit.

On the other end of the spectrum, Airbnb is allowing employees to live and work from anywhere forever, CEO Brian Chesky announced in April.

NTT did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.