WFA x Life in Kanazawa

PayPay shifted to a “new workstyle” last September, allowing “Work from Anywhere, at Anytime” (WFA). Ten months after its launch, a number of issues associated with this work style have become apparent, and for this reason, we have decided to start a new series of articles featuring WFA to offer insight into solving the challenges of working remotely by sharing some creative and specific practices our colleagues have adopted. This time, we would like to introduce Yamada-san, who was born and raised in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. Here are some of the highlights and challenges she encountered moving back to Kanazawa from Tokyo, along with the photos she took!
Living in Kanazawa: Aika Yamada

Since February 2021, when I joined PayPay.
Why did you decide to move back to Kanazawa?
I got to experience a long period of remote work in my previous job when the state of emergency was declared, and I realized then that I could work fine without coming to the office.
Living in Tokyo was very convenient, but I came to wonder if it was worth paying a high rent to continue living there. After discussing it with my husband, we decided to move to a rural area. We are now living with my parents in a two-family house in my hometown of Kanazawa.
How is remote work?
I feel so much more comfortable in my daily life because I no longer have to spend time commuting or getting ready for work (like putting on makeup…lol). Now I can use that extra time with my family or for study.
In terms of work, I’m currently developing the PayPay app as an iOS engineer. The team is multinational and the skills of the members are astoundingly high, which makes the work really rewarding.
I mainly use Slack for text-based communications with team members and Zoom for discussions. With online communication, I feel that it’s difficult to read other people’s emotions or to make small talk, which tends to make the relationship shallow. In my team we started a thing called “Short Coffee Break” to revitalize communication! We set a time in which 3-4 people talk about things other than work.
I haven’t met up with any of the team members yet, so I’m hoping to have some time with them once the state of emergency is lifted and things settle down.
A word of advice for those who are considering moving out of Tokyo with WFA.
I’m very happy with my situation! It allows me to spend a lot of time with my husband and family (such as my parents and grandparents) while staying involved in cutting-edge work! There are still challenges in communication with remote work, but I believe that PayPay has the speed and culture to solve these. I highly recommended those who want to have a good work-life balance to join PayPay!