WFA × Life in Hyogo

About WFA series

“Work From Anywhere At Anytime“(WFA) was introduced in September 2020. In this “WFA Special” series, we offer insights into solving the challenges of working remotely by sharing some practices our colleagues have adopted.

Today we are pleased to introduce you to Yumiko. Here are some of the highlights and challenges she has encountered since she joined the company using the WFA system, along with some photos of the locale! See the article about her team from here.

Yumiko Iseki

Translator

I’m a member of the Language Communication Team in the Corporate Communication Department. My primary responsibility is providing interpretation support. I also manage the English Boot Camp and the Japanese Boot Camp, which are the PayPay-original language training programs offered internally.

Life in Hyogo

The WFA system already existed when I joined PayPay, and I am very happy to be able to work for a cutting-edge company while living in the countryside. What I love most about it is that there is no need to commute by train. I used to spend over an hour on the train to Osaka to get to the office.

With my 10 year old son, a baseball player with long hair.

How is working remotely?

Personally, the biggest advantage of working from home is that I don’t have to travel all the way to work. I’ve been able to use the time I would have spent on the train for my family and myself.

On the other hand, if I had to raise one disadvantage, it would be that there is less communication through small talk during work. To make up for this, I make a conscious effort to break the ice at the beginning of a meeting to get to know people more.

My office. There’s still a lot of room for improvement.

What are you careful of when working remotely?

Since I don’t get enough exercise in without the commute, I go swimming to the local gym about two to three times a week. It’s a very important routine for me as swimming helps to melt my brain fatigue. I also practice yoga when I don’t have any early morning meetings.

A word of advice for those who are considering moving to the countryside

I live in Sanda City in Hyogo Prefecture. You can enjoy a lot of nature and fresh air here, even though it’s less than an hour away from Osaka. The life here is so comfortable that I never want to go back to living in the city, but meanwhile, I also want to work on better communication associated with remote work. If you are considering moving to the country, I recommend that you have a good think about the differences and choose the location that fits your lifestyle.

View from the top of Mt. Rokko. You can see the streets of Kobe.

【Finally】
How was “WFA x Life in Hyogo?” It sounds like Yumiko is making good use of the time she would have spent on her commute. The remote work environment has freed her from the curse of traveling back and forth between office and home, and she has been able to spend the time instead on family and herself. We hope this article serves as a reference for those of you who work remotely.