With its aging workforce, Japan is facing a severe labor shortage in the construction and civil engineering industry. But a painting company in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, may have some answers.
Fumika Kono, 22, is a rookie construction site supervisor at the company, Nagaoka Tosoten K.K. She was recently assigned to supervise a two-month operation at a condominium construction site — her first full assignment. Her duties range from receiving materials to monitoring the pace of progress to checking the finished work.
She says that taking a job in the construction industry was "natural" because she has "liked to create things" ever since she was a child.