Japanese companies confused by state, municipal flip-flopping on coronavirus closures
Businesses are confused by municipal and central government vacillating over which industries to target for temporary closure under the state of emergency declared for containing the coronavirus contagion. On Friday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government finally announced a list of sectors subject to its closure instructions ...
Japan's bankruptcy tally at 51 as pandemic destroys commerce
The coronavirus crisis has triggered 51 bankruptcies so far, Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. said Friday. The survey by the credit research company covers COVID-19 related failures that left liabilities of ¥10 million or more in Japan. The 51 failures took place in 28 prefectures, with seven ...
Rising labor costs biggest threat to Japanese firms in Asia: survey
Rising labor costs and shortages of skilled labor are the largest downside risk to Japanese firms operating in Asia, with 76 percent of respondents to an NNA survey calling them their top concerns. Among the 630 respondents at Japanese companies in East Asia, Southeast Asia, ...
The number of corporate bankruptcies nationwide in November rose 6.1 percent from a year earlier to 718, up for the first time in three months, Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. said. Total liabilities left by failed companies fell 16.7 percent to ¥121.279 billion, dropping for the ...
Japanese firms face tough choices as U.S.-China trade war drags on
The companies must either make massive changes to how their products are assembled or bide their time until a compromise is reached.
80% of major Japanese firms expect domestic economy to grow in 2018
Over 80 percent of major companies expect the economy to grow toward the end of this year, but most do not see the expansion lasting beyond the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, according to a recent Kyodo News survey. Around 82 percent of the 113 companies surveyed ...
Government-led campaign hopes to ease 2020 Tokyo Olympic traffic by promoting telecommuting
A government-led campaign began Monday to encourage more companies to introduce telecommuting, with hopes that letting employees work away from the office could help ease traffic congestion during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Around 2,000 companies and organizations are expected to join the "Telework ...
Majority of job-seeking university students put off by AI-powered candidate screening
As more companies turn to artificial intelligence to discover new talent, a recent survey has shown that a majority of job-seeking university students don't want their abilities judged by the technology. About 67.5 percent of 1,258 university and graduate students slated to graduate in March ...
Japan firms in Thailand plan to raise wages by 4.4% on average this year
Japanese companies operating in Thailand are considering raising wages by an average 4.4 percent this year, according to an annual survey by NNA. Of 403 Japanese companies surveyed, 305 firms, or 75.7 percent, plan to implement wage hikes for workers and those in managerial positions. The ...
Japan looking to fuel 'productivity revolution' by doubling growth in labor productivity
The Abe administration will aim to double labor productivity growth to 2 percent in the three years through 2020 from 0.9 percent, the average for the five years through 2015, according to informed sources. The government is set to include the target in a package ...
Investment by Japanese firms rises 4.2% on year in July-September
Capital spending by Japanese companies rose 4.2 percent from a year ago in the July-September period, the Finance Ministry said Friday, reinforcing the view that the economy remains on a moderate recovery trend. Business investment by all nonfinancial sectors on plants, equipment and other purposes ...
Japanese firms operating in Thailand plan bigger wage increases
More Japanese companies in Thailand are implementing increased relative wage hikes this year on the back of an improving economic outlook in the Southeast Asian country. A new survey by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce, Bangkok, shows that 26.7 percent of manufacturers are offering larger ...
