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Japan – Labour shortages rising costs for 2020 Olympics

02 July 2015

Yoshirō Mori, head of Japan’s organising committee for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, today blamed an “imbalance of demand and supply” for the soaring construction costs threatening to afflict Japan’s Olympic and Paralympic project, reports insidethegames.biz.

Mr Mori said that the drive to reconstruct areas damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, along with the Government’s efforts to spur economic recovery, had resulted in a tight labour market.

“We don’t have enough labour; that’s why the cost is rising” he stated.

Data from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare late last month revealed that job availability rose to its highest level in roughly 23 years. The ratio of employment offers to jobseekers rose from 1.17 in April to 1.19 in May. This means that there are 119 job openings for every 100 jobseekers.

In an effort to save costs Japan’s Olympic committee has moved some events to alternate sites in a bid to repurpose existing infrastructure, instead of starting construction from scratch.