◆In what type of industry is a shortage of capable workers most obvious?
Several days ago the Sanno Institute of Management released the results of an internet survey conducted in November of 2016 targeting managers of small to medium enterprises (those with 6 – 300 employees), and in response to their inquiries regarding the “status of current employee satisfaction,” the resulting responses were as follows.
・Insufficient：48.6％
・Sufficient：48.0％
・Excessive：3.5％
When viewed separately according to industry, the construction (61.6%), telecommunications (62.8％), restaurant/hospitality (61.1％), and medical/social service (69.0％) industries are experiencing very high degrees of insufficiency.
Moreover, within the list of factors most likely to influence management activities in 2017, personnel shortage was placed at the top (36%), and it appears that the issue of insufficient personnel among smaller enterprises is becoming increasingly severe.

◆What is effective in establishing young employees?
As a way of counteracting a shortage of capable workers, the government is attempting to stimulate the use of female and elderly employees. However, it stands to reason that grappling with establishment of young employees is most essential.
In a study conducted by the Federation of Economic Organizations from July to August of last year, based on the responses of staff members and higher executives in charge of human resource in member companies (477 respondents), it was shown that the companies who feel that efforts should be applied to the improvement of the retention of young employees has increased to 73.6%.
Furthermore, in a survey regarding the believed effectiveness of countermeasures to the situation concerning young employee retention (respondents chose up to three), the following were ranked as the top five.
(1) Constructing positive human relationships in the workplace (60.7％)
(2) Making assignments that are appropriate to an employee’s aptitude and ability, and developing/implementing a fully agreed-upon system of evaluation(54.4％）
(3) Decreasing work hours and promoting access to annual paid vacation (33.9％)
(4) Visualization of career paths, business visions, and ideas (31.8％)
(5) Strengthening talent development (27.9％)

◆Important issues outside of hiring activity include the following:
When it comes to counteracting personnel shortages, of course putting effort into proper hiring activity must come first, but it is also essential that we consider what kind of policies should be implemented with regard to the retention of the employee after they have entered the company.