Labor Shortage Perceived as More Serious Across Japan: Govt Report

November 27, 2018

Tokyo--The labor shortage has been perceived as increasingly severe across Japan due to a rise in the number of job offers following the economic expansion since 2012, the Cabinet Office said in a report released Tuesday.

The sense of shortage is particularly evident in the restaurant and accommodation businesses, as well as in the medical and welfare industries, said the 2018 report on issues facing the country's regional economies.

To tackle the situation, the government report calls for greater participation of women and the older generation in the labor market and the need to raise labor productivity.

By region, the increase in labor productivity between 2010 and 2015 based on real gross domestic product per worker was high in the Tohoku northeastern region, the Tokai central region, the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa and the northern part of the Kanto eastern region.

The growth was slower in the Kyushu southwestern region, the Hokuriku central region, the Kinki western region and the Koshinetsu central region, the report said.

Many regions saw labor productivity grow at a greater pace at manufacturers than at nonmanufacturers, and the report stressed the importance of striving to improve productivity at nonmanufacturers led by the service industry.

On the prospect of the Japanese government achieving its target of attracting 40 million visitors from abroad in 2020, the report said that sufficiently expanding low-cost carriers' network of flight routes connecting overseas cities with various parts of Japan will hold the key. Jiji Press