JAPANESE workers, famed for their dedication to work and marathon hours, are beginning to lose some of their enthusiasm. A trade union survey, published earlier this week, found them lagging in their willingness to go all out for their employers, compared to their European counterparts.

Of 980 Japanese participants in a survey of 6,900 workers in the electronics industry, only 19 per cent said they would do their utmost for their companies.

This was 5 per cent fewer than to years ago and the lowest among 14 nations polled, the Japanese Electrical Electronic & Information Union said.