According to the latest Randstad Workmonitor Survey, Japan is the least equipped for the digitisation of work.

In Japan, 42.5% of respondents said they “feel equipped to deal with digitalisation in their job”. This figure is low in comparison to that of other countries surveyed, and it shows a low level of technological awareness.

Globally, 45.9% of respondents agreed with this statement: “My employer has an increasing need for STEM profiles”. Countries in Asia, South America, Central America, and the US had similar results.

The survey also showed that globally, 71.1% of respondents agreed with this statement: “More students should focus on a career in STEM.” More than 70% of respondents in Asia, North America, South America, Central America, and southern Europe agreed.

However, 58% of employees in Japan agreed, placing the country fifth from bottom of a ranking of the countries surveyed.

Globally, 63.3% of respondents agreed with this statement: “If I was 18, I would focus on a field of study within STEM”. In Japan, 57% of respondents agreed. Meanwhile, globally, 69.7% of respondents agreed with the statement: “If I was 18, I would focus on a field of study within the digital/online industry”. The figure for Japan is 61.2%. Some 90% of respondents in India and China, two countries aiming to be Asia’s IT hub, agreed with both statements.

“I’m concerned about the decreasing motivation among Japanese students to study STEM subjects, while more students around the world are studying them”, Satoshi Saruya, president and COO, Randstad Japan, said. “In Japan, there has been a change in manufacturing — largely due to improved efficiency as a result of automated production in the last 10 years or so — and the country has been a leader technologically. It is therefore clear that white-collar productivity needs to be improved by using artificial intelligence, to deal with decreasing labour productivity and an ageing society. It is predicted that jobs, or parts of them, will be replaced by IT, technology and automation. Workers will need to work with ever-improving technology, and develop skills that cannot be replaced by further advances.”

The Randstad Workmonitor surveyed a total of 32 countries.