Recently, Japan’s economy is showing signs of recovery, so Japanese companies are trying to hire permanent employees who can work longer instead of temporary employees. However, Japanese job seekers avoid permanent positions, so Japan is suffering from a serious labor shortage. The American statistics site Trading Economics showed that the number of permanent employees in Japan increased by about 300,000 since last year and reached 21,263,000. The number of temporary employees increased by about 110,000 and reached 7,133,000. However, the Home Ministry’s employment statistics showed that the number of job seekers who want to be permanent employees has decreased by about 280,000 compared with 3 years ago and reached 1,150,000. It is different from the situation in Korea where job seekers prefer permanent positions.
  The reasons for this labor shortage are a decrease of the youth population and their tendency to avoid being a permanent employee. Also, due to the low birth rate and aging, the number of old people has continuously increased, and in contrast, the younger generation who can work has decreased. What is worse is that young people in Japan are reluctant to take a permanent job. As a typical example of this phenomenon, there is a new coinage, freeter. It is a combination of the word ‘free’ and ‘arbeiter’, which means a worker in German. The freeters earn their living by doing a part-time job. The reason why freeters avoid being a permanent employee is that part-time jobs have more flexibility and shorter working hours than full-time jobs. Also, as the high minimum wage allows them to earn their living, they don’t need to get a full-time job. This has had an influence on the increase in freeters. The minimum wage in Japan varies from Okinawa’s 736 yen to Tokyo’s 932 yen. The average for  all regions is 848 yen, which equates to 8,400 won, but the actual amount is about 1,200 yen, or about 12,000 won, because the companies give 10~30% more than minimum wage for transportation fees or other factors. Also, because the cost of Japan’s living is similar or lower than Korea’s, Japanese freeters have less financial pressure than Korean part-time workers.
  There is an opinion that this labor shortage might lead to an increase of wages and that the Japanese economy might improve because of it. This means a wage increase could generate a rise of consumption and could lead to escaping from deflation, which is the economic objective of Shinzo Abe’s government. The chief economist of PNC Financial Services Group, Bill Adams, said, “The labor market of Japan is overheating to attract younger workers because of the labor shortage. Actually, they hire people as permanent employees, but they treat them as temporary employees. That’s why the wage increase can’t occur.” In addition, there are concerns about the growth of companies because a serious labor shortage can hinder their growth. The vice-president of Bank of Japan, Nakaso Hiroshi, said, “Companies can’t solve their problems with the wage increase of part-time jobs. Reducing business hours and service hours has a limit, so it is impossible to encourage a reduction of manpower in all industries.”
  As Japanese companies couldn’t find the human resources in Japan, the companies which hire foreign workers increased. A typical example is that many Japanese companies participated in the ‘Career Fair for Koreans’. Similarly, Japanese companies are interested in Korean IT talents. Because of this trend, the students who want to get a job in Japan have increased. Jung Ji-young(’16, Urban Engineering) said, “It is too difficult to get a job in Korea, so I am considering  getting a job in Japan because they hire many foreign workers even if they speak a different language. Japan’s low prices are another reason why I am considering it.”

By Jo Se-in
si38@cbnu.ac.kr