Tag - labor-shortage

 
 

LABOR SHORTAGE

EDITORIALS
Jun 22, 2019
Push for higher minimum wages
Companies need to consider rising minimum wages not as a threat to their bottom lines but as an opportunity to secure the manpower they need and improve their productivity by making necessary investments.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2019
Look at the SOFA pool of labor
An overlooked pool of potential workers is the dependent population of U.S. military personnel assigned to Japan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 7, 2019
Nearly 40% of companies see low retention rate for midcareer hires: survey
Close to 40 percent of employers feel they have low retention rates for regular employees hired in the middle of their careers, according to a survey.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2019
Japan and Nepal sign government-to-government labor pact
Nepal has signed a memorandum of cooperation to send to Japan "specified skilled" workers for the first time.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2019
Japan to require foreign workers arriving on new visas to submit medical certificates
The Justice Ministry plans to require foreign workers entering the country using new working visas to submit medical certificates, sources with knowledge of the matter have said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Help Wanted?
Dec 31, 2018
Foreign talent eager to work for Japanese firms, but staid office culture a hindrance
Dozens of young people from around Asia descended on Tokyo last month for a job fair, dressed in a plain black suit of the type considered "the uniform" for Japanese college students when they meet with prospective employers.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 4, 2018
A new immigration policy for Japan
Japan should focus on accepting highly skilled immigrants and leverage domestic resources to solve its shortage of unskilled labor.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 28, 2018
Japan's Upper House begins debate on bill to expand use of foreign labor
Debate on a bill to accept more foreign blue-collar workers begins in the House of Councilors after the ruling bloc forced it through the Lower House the previous day.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Nov 19, 2018
Wrangling over planned shake-up of Japan's immigration control law intensifies after government admits to data errors
A ruckus in the Diet over erroneous statistics leaves the government's Dec. 10 deadline for passage of new legislation in doubt.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Nov 17, 2018
Kansai business community sees future foreign worker influx with both hope and concern
The news last week that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is preparing to admit up to 345,000 foreign workers by 2023 has been met with a combination of hope they will help prop up agricultural, manufacturing and service sectors that are struggling to find workers, and concern that Abe has rushed through an immigration policy that will create massive social problems.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2018
Japan looks to hold tests in seven countries for farm jobs under new visas
Although cautious, Japanese firms are ready to hire foreign workers who will come to the country under a new visa arrangement.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 14, 2018
More than 345,000 foreign workers predicted to come to Japan under new visas: government
Some 345,000 blue-collar foreign workers may join the workforce through the first five years of a new working visa system set to be introduced in April — if it wins Diet approval.
EDITORIALS
Nov 6, 2018
Coming to grips at last with Japan's labor shortage
If the Abe administration wants to woo more foreign workers to Japan it should foster an environment that will attract them.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2018
Think tank says applicants for planned blue-collar visas should have college degrees
A newly launched think tank researching policies for accepting more foreign workers said Monday that as a condition for new visa statuses currently being discussed in the Diet, the government should require prospective applicants to have a college degree.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2018
Japan's Cabinet approves bill to introduce new visa categories for foreign workers, to address shrinking workforce
The bill marks a departure from previous policy in allowing foreign individuals to work in blue collar industries for a potentially indefinite amount of time.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Oct 18, 2018
Abe wants foreigners to bolster Japan's shrinking workforce but finds vocal resistance
A strict immigration policy has helped make Japan one of the world's oldest and most homogeneous societies. Now, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to invite as many as half a million foreign workers is testing the country's tolerance for change.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2018
New visa statuses proposed for blue-collar workers do not offer permanent residency: justice minister
Comments come as ministry details plan to allow people with knowledge and abilities Japan needs to work in the nation.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2018
Amid labor shortage, record 70% of Japanese women held jobs in August
Women have long had fewer opportunities to pursue careers than men because of expectations they will become homemakers or focus on raising children.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 3, 2018
Japan's economy needs AI and robots to offset graying population: white paper
Japan's graying society will require more investment in technologies such as artificial intelligence and robots to make up for a decline in the labor force and its effect on economic growth, according to a government report released Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2018
Government sets target for 10,000 Vietnamese caregivers, needs additional 550,000 by 2025
The government sets a target of accepting 10,000 Vietnamese caregivers by the summer of 2020 to address a chronic labor shortage in the nursing sector as the Japanese population rapidly grays.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on