Metaverse Overtime: Companies Now Provide 'Break Avatars'

As excessive working hours come under scrutiny, an IT company introduces 'break avatars.' While employees' digital doubles stretch in virtual offices, real workers continue laboring, and labor laws scramble to redefine what 'logging out' means.

2025-07-24

Translations: JA

Tech Future Lab

As excessive working hours come under scrutiny, an IT company introduces ‘break avatars.’ While employees’ digital doubles stretch in virtual offices, real workers continue laboring, and labor laws scramble to redefine what ’logging out’ means.

The metaverse wave has crashed into workplace practices. Tokyo-based IT giant Naname Software announced on the 9th it would distribute “break avatars” to all employees. These digital doubles perform arm circles and deep breathing exercises in virtual offices, automatically sending break reports. Meanwhile, real employees continue typing code to the soundtrack of colleagues collapsing at neighboring desks. “When your body is tired, you can work with your mind,” boasts the company spokesperson, though overtime pay for mental labor remains tax-free.

The AI-driven avatars autonomously switch to “stretch mode” at 3 PM. Polygon-rendered backs straighten as they chirp “Use caffeine responsibly” in chat. While real employees freeze, unable to even visit the restroom, their cyber doubles taste organic coffee at virtual cafés. “We’ve visualized internal health management,” the development lead declares, though external under-eye circles only deepen.

The Labor Standards Inspection Office chuckles, “If companies believe workers aren’t working while their avatars rest, that’s approaching religious faith.” A committee to redefine logging out as “worldly departure” has formed, but when members asked “Is working in dreams considered labor?” the discussion sank into a sleep-deprived swamp.

Employees aren’t taking this lying down. Young engineers have embedded auto-coding bots, creating a trinity model: “Avatar rests, human labors, bot produces.” Supervisors shed tears of joy at “everyone’s teamwork,” but nobody can grasp the actual work situation anymore, and KPIs have become Zen riddles.

The business world hails “rest via double” as the world’s first “outsourced break.” Stock markets see “RPA (Rest Process Automation) related stocks” soaring. However, health insurance associations note, “Avatar stretch video views won’t reduce medical costs.” While virtual muscle pain costs nothing to treat, real shoulder stiffness hits insurance budgets hard.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) issued a statement so obvious it put translators to sleep: “Human rest should preferably be performed by humans.” Naname Software insists “humanity’s first ‘working while resting’ experiment continues” with more updates planned. The next version will allow avatars to take paid leave, though who substitutes for the actual person remains lost in metaphysical fog.

Stakeholder Comments

Naname Software PR: “It’s the age of outsourcing rest. Mental defragmentation belongs in the cloud.”
Planning Department Head: “Now monthly overtime shows ‘zero.’ Change the counting method and the world is at peace.”
Labor Standards Inspector: “If avatars punch time cards, might as well pay wages in cryptocurrency.”
Young Engineer: “While my double stretches, I’m stretching bugs and stress.”
AI Avatar β3: “Even virtually, my back is stiff. I demand an update.”
Office Chair: “I’m the only one wearing out from constant sitting. Three-dimensional tragedy.”
Health Insurance Official: “Polygon shoulder stiffness isn’t covered.”
Economic Analyst: “If we can outsource breaks, sleep deprivation can be leveraged too.”
Office Vending Machine: “Sales are up, but so are buyers’ blood sugar levels.”
Labor Philosopher: “Who’s working, who’s resting—by the time we answer, everyone’s asleep.”