According to statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as of December 2022, Japan’s population aged 15-64 decreased by 0.28% from the same month last year, or 208,000 fewer people. In addition, the number of people under 15 years old, who will be of working age, decreased by 293,000 over the same period. The total population has been declining at an accelerated pace since 2019, and as of May 2023, the total population is estimated to be 570,000 less than the same month last year.

◆What companies that do not have a shortage of labor are doing to address it
While many companies are increasingly feeling short-staffed following the lowering of the Infectious Diseases Act classification of the new coronavirus to ‘category 5’, the same as seasonal influenza, some companies are not short-staffed. According to the results of a survey conducted by Teikoku Databank, many companies cited the following measures as the main factors (multiple answers) for not having a labor shortage.
(1) Raise wages and bonuses (51.7%)
(2) Creating a comfortable work environment (35.0%)
(3) Extension of retirement age and rehiring of seniors (31.2%)
(4) Improved welfare benefits (26.6%)
(5) Fair and equitable personnel evaluation (22.0%)

A ‘ comfortable work environment’ in (2) includes maintaining cleanliness, rest areas and an internal consultation service. In addition, (4) and (5) are measures to make the workplace a place where workers can feel a sense of personal growth and security.

◆Need for wage increase
In the midst of declining real wages due to soaring global prices, companies that are unable (or unwilling) to raise wages and bonuses will experience a decline in employee satisfaction and a sense of security, resulting in an exodus of talented personnel, a decline in competitiveness that will make it difficult to hire new employees, and even if they are lucky enough to hire new employees, they will not be able to afford to nurture them, resulting in early employee turnover.
As the old saying goes, “A man is a stone wall, and a man is a castle”, the most powerful force supporting a company is the power of the people you trust. In order to develop as many employees as possible who trust the company, the company should take the initiative to change and show the way forward.