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Pandemic opens doors to switch jobs in Japan

Reuters . Tokyo
23 Oct 2021 00:00:00 | Update: 23 Oct 2021 00:07:09
Pandemic opens doors to switch jobs in Japan
Hospitality businesses have laid off workers, with the number of employees falling to 3.9 million in 2020 from the prior year’s 4.2 million – Reuters Photo

The Covid-19 pandemic has unexpectedly helped Japan's nursing homes and information technology (IT) companies overcome years of labour shortages, as job cuts at restaurants and hotels have prompted workers to look for new careers.

This newfound job mobility marks a shift in a country whose rigid labour practices are partially blamed for a long term decline in productivity.

But it is too soon to say whether the change will ultimately lead to higher wages, which are desperately needed to revive demand and growth in an economy that is still struggling to break free from decades of deflation.

For now, the job-hoppers tend to trade one low-paying career for another.

Toshiki Kurimata, who used to make 2.8 million yen ($25,000) a year as a masseur, quit after 12 years as the pandemic caused a sharp drop in customers. Now he works at a nursing care centre and is taking classes to become a registered caregiver.

With that qualification, he expects to earn around 3.3 million yen - an increase of about 18 per cent. The even bigger attraction, he says, is job stability.

"I like working in nursing care and it's stable," Kurimata said. "There aren't age limits on the work and you can find work even if, like me, you are inexperienced."

Experts aren't sure whether the job-switching will remain limited to certain industries or become a broader trend.

It is also uncertain whether job switching will continue once the pandemic dies down, although anecdotal evidence suggests people will keep leaving food-service jobs for nursing and IT.

Japan expects to have a shortage of 690,000 care workers by 2040, a tough gap to fill given the rapidly ageing population.

Low-income

OECD data put Japan's hourly labour productivity at $47.9, making it about 60 per cent of the United States' level, the worst among the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies, and 21st among the 37 OECD members as of 2019.

And the prospect of people being stuck in low income jobs poses a big challenge for Japan's new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who has pledged to bring more wealth to households via higher wages.

"Covid-19 fallouts are pushing low-paid workers into even harder situations with little, or no, increase in pay," said Hisashi Yamada, senior economist at Japan Research Institute.

Hospitality businesses have laid off workers, with the number of employees falling to 3.9 million in 2020 from the prior year's 4.2 million, labour ministry data shows.

By contrast, the medical and health industry saw employees hitting 8.6 million, up 200,000 from 2019. The IT sector hired 2.4 million employees, up 100,000 from 2019.

Job training

Vocational training schools have benefited.

SAMURAI, which offers IT training, had 1.7 times more students enrolled as of April 2021 compared with a year earlier, as employees retrenched during the pandemic rushed to retrain.

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