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Japan - Labour Market is tight

30 November 2015

Japan’s labour market is under pressure according to Marc Burrage, Managing Director of Hays Japan. In an interview with Bloomberg over Japan’s economics, Burrage said there is a talent mismatch in the labour market with education in Japan failing labour market needs.

"I think we have an interesting challenge in Japan right now,” Burrage said. "We have 3.1% (unemployment), which on the face of it, is good progress, but we also have to consider we have the fastest-aging population in the world, that in itself presents challenges with regards to how we are going to find the talent to fuel the growth that Japan needs so that it can continue to compete on a global scale.”

Burrage said that Japanese organizations are bemoaning the fact that they simply cannot find the talent locally

“The government is looking to extend visas for highly skilled migrants. this is in reaction to the fact that we don’t have the high-skilled people that we need, more specifically in the technology sector the government has made it their stated aim to increase the number that we have working in the technology sector from 30,000 to 60,000.”

 When asked why the education system is failing Japan, Burrage said: “It’s a very high-quality education system, however, it’s not necessarily delivering the vocational qualifications that are required by industry today.”