Hidenobu Fukuda, the head of the Tokyo company IT company Ferray, sounds like a great boss. Well, unless you’re allergic to cats.
But his employees seem to be loving the company’s policy of allowing a revolving roster of cats to hang out at the office all day. According to a 2017 story, the office had 9 cats in residence at once.
Fukuda told the French paper Agence France-Presse that having office cats live, eat, sleep, and lounge in their office was an idea presented by a staff member and it quickly took off with his support. He even gives ¥5,000 (about $45 a month) to employees who rescue needy cats.
Office cats have been living the good life at Ferray since 2000 with the goal of reducing office stress.
Japan, and particularly the IT industry, has a reputation for workaholism, and we all know that long hours and stress are not only hard on the body and mind, but reduce employee productivity. Nobody wins when employees aren’t doing well.
And Ferray isn’t the only Japanese company with a fur-friendly policy. An Old English Sheepdog named Candy serves as a “greeting and healing ambassador” at Oracle Japan (another tech company), according to The National. They’ve had an office dog around since 1991 and Candy is their fourth. She even has her own social media accounts.
Companies have even branched out into less traditional office animals – Pasona Group “hired” two goats in 2011 and two alpacas in 2013 as full-time employees, partly for healing purposes.
While we can’t imagine working alongside an alpaca, admittedly, it’s because we’ve never tried.
Meanwhile, Ferray employees stand behind their feline office mates. According to People, the cats seem to enjoy the setup too since they’re provided with beds, toys, litter boxes, and treats throughout the office.
“Cats are sleeping just beside us … It’s healing,” said one employee.
The only downside?
“Sometimes a cat will walk on a phone and cut off the call, or they shut down the computers by walking on to the off switch,” Fukuda admitted.
Cats will be cats. They chew cords, tear up papers, walk on keyboards, and generally act like cats. But the stress reduction and morale boost still offset the minor inconvenience.
Let’s face it, if a furry friend is cute enough, you can forgive it for just about anything. And cats are small enough that you can generally move them aside when they head for your keyboard, so it’s not a free-for-all that disrupts work all day.
It’s interesting to note that while cat allergies are common among children in Japan, research reports that many children are desensitized to cats through environmental exposure, even if they don’t have cats in the house.
By adulthood, this means people experience fewer allergy symptoms around cats.
At Ferray, employees are even encouraged to bring their own cats to work, which we can only imagine leads to less stress during the day and happier cats overall.
It’s clear the company cares deeply about its employee’s mental health. Workers are even given automatic time off for bereavement if a pet passes away.
While we know not everyone loves cats (or animals, although we can’t understand why), this policy appears to be working quite well for the company and employee morale has greatly improved. And there’s plenty of science to prove that cats can bring a sense of calm and even lower the blood pressure of those petting them.
Of course, cats should always be given a place to hide away from humans and the opportunity to take a break when they need one.
In the end, we think letting cats into the office, as long as liabilities have been addressed and employees are supportive of the policy, is a small price to pay for better mental health and a better work environment.
Check out the adorable video with the company’s CEO below.
