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Japan's job availability improves to 44-year high

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There were 1.64 openings for every job seeker, the highest level since January 1974 and up from 1.63 in August, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

And as before, it's a useless statistics, as the same number will be very different from one sector to another.

For example, white collar jobs will certainly be in high demand, therefore more job seekers than job openings, while there are certainly lots of available jobs in restaurants, but very few people wanting it.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

The minimum hourly wage in my prefecture is 762yen. Must be hard to hold back the flood of applicants!

11 ( +11 / -0 )

 there are certainly lots of available jobs in restaurants, but very few people wanting it.

I wish they'd include some metrics on the wage levels of the job openings as compared to cost-of-living. I am seeing restaurants close due to lack of staff. at least two in my neighborhood have posted that in recent months.

People can't live on the minimum wage. Many of those jobs will remain available.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Not enough people to fill jobs? Raise the salaries and benefits and I'm sure you'd have no problem filling them.

15 ( +15 / -0 )

It is very refreshing to hear that the job market is improving for job seekers. In my personal view, I prefer that there are more opportunities for workers to choose who to work for than less opportunities. More options means employers have to work hard to attract and maintain their staff. This means they have to do the right things like paying well, treating workers as assets and not as dispensable tools. It is all good for me.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

More smoke and mirrors statistics from the bureau of BS. Most of the jobs available have low salaries and are on short term contracts. My Mrs is in the job market at present. She applied for one job that paid ¥350,000 per month, which seems quite reasonable and is a standard salary for experienced senior full-time workers. However, the ¥350,000 per month included 40 hours of mandatory overtime per month. This means, she would be working an extra week every month for free. They can brag about low unemployment all they like, but the reality is, people are taking crappy jobs with poverty line (or lower) salaries just so they can survive.

14 ( +14 / -0 )

However, the ¥350,000 per month included 40 hours of mandatory overtime per month.

That cracks me up about Japan.

It should never be mandatory to work overtime. If people need to work overtime to complete the work, then its pretty obvious there are not enough regular employees or those they have are terribly inefficient. So basically, that is how Japan Inc saves on wages, via underemployment and excessive hours for those unfortunate enough to be working in the system.

15 ( +15 / -0 )

"However, the ¥350,000 per month"

Cripes, that wouldn't pay the rent on the tower apartment down the street where people have pets, lol.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

If the cut out the excessive mandatory OT the whole stack of cards would fall. The actual number of job seeks vs jobs would skyrocket perhaps, but still no movement on wages I'd bet. Japan inc rely on free labour to maintain their business model.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Its time for Japanese government to cut government paper pushing jobs. They don't improve the economy and a waste of taxes.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

expat - It isn't job availability that's the issue, and it's not lack of workers. Raise minimum wages to 1500 an hour, force companies to pay overtime after 40 hours, increase the income tax exclusion, and things will change.

I completely agree with this post. However, this is Japan! A country run by bureaucrats in a faux democracy at the expense of the commoners. It’s been like this for over a thousand years. The Bible era saw the rise of the middle class. Nowadays, things have got tough and the middle class is disappearing. It is going back to the ‘us and them’ heirachy of old.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Bubble era! Damn you autocorrect!

4 ( +4 / -0 )

An official at the internal affairs ministry said 710,000 of the unemployed chose to leave their jobs, suggesting that they were going on the hunt for better positions.

That might be true, and it also might be a euphemism for "desperate to leave their abusive, bullying, and underpaying black companies".

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Unbelievable economic news! Close to full employment, best employment in developed world. What an amazing time for graduates and job seekers in Japan, they have endless choices of companies.

Thank-you Abe Cabinet, THANK-YOU!!

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

For crying out loud there is next to NOTHING positive about any of this, as everyone is pointing out, crappy wages, free slave labour for companies & a DECREASING working population does NOT bode well for the future of Japan, this is coming on a lot faster than I thought it would.

It is NOT likely to end well, expect misery to increase for most people on these isles!

6 ( +6 / -0 )

The purpose of the economy is not to create jobs, but to produce goods and services that people want. How many new jobs have been created is irrelvant to people's standards of living. What matters is the productivity, capital investment, savings, and production of goods and services people value. You should publish the productivity numbers, savings and investment in capital formation ratings, and the value of the currency. Those are the only numbers that matter to standards of living.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

@ilovecoffe

"The purpose of the economy is not to create jobs..."

Yeah, actually it is. 60-70% of GDP comes from consumption, and jobless people don't consume nearly as much employed ones.

The supply-side orientation over the past 30-40 years has given us wage stagnation, financial crises and made it inevitable that a communist dictatorship will soon become the world's biggest and most dominant economy.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

More smoke and mirrors statistics from the bureau of BS. Most of the jobs available have low salaries and are on short term contracts. My Mrs is in the job market at present. She applied for one job that paid ¥350,000 per month, which seems quite reasonable and is a standard salary for experienced senior full-time workers. However, the ¥350,000 per month included 40 hours of mandatory overtime per month. This means, she would be working an extra week every month for free. They can brag about low unemployment all they like, but the reality is, people are taking crappy jobs with poverty line (or lower) salaries just so they can survive.

Actually you are reading the ¥350,000 per month wrong. Without the overtime included, the base pay is probably more inline with being around ¥270,000 or so per month.

The overtime is being compensated for with the higher number so in effect there is no "one week for free"

As an "experienced senior worker" the overtime would be expected.

More companies are putting out advertising like this, offering jobs that appear to have higher salaries but in the fine print is the overtime expectations associated with the pay.

You should have your wife ask what the pay would be without the overtime.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Its time for Japanese government to cut government paper pushing jobs. 

It's time for the private sector to pay wages in line with their record-high earnings, instead of paying workers peanuts. Until they do, we may as well have lots of government paper pushing jobs, since those govt wages will have a multiplier -- flowing into housing, food, education and merchandise that will lift growth.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

flowing into housing, food, education and merchandise that will lift growth.

Who pays for those useless jobs? Japan is having a crisis because there isn't enough young people to fill in private sector jobs. More companies will be forced to put jobs over seas and import cheap workers lowering the standard for everyone. A race to the bottom.

This job welfare system is not going to help Japan in the long run. It's like a bandaid for a broken leg.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@JeffLee

If that was the purpose of the economy, why not order 1 million people to dig a hole with a spoon, and then 1 more million to fill up the hole again? That would create 2 million jobs instantly, but is the standards of living going to rise? Are people's lives going to be better off just by doing that pointless job and providing no services and products to others? The answer is no.

You don't want jobs, you want goods and services that people value. Working on a job that creates no value for others does not raise the standards of living in a society.

Consumption does not drive the economy, production and productivity does. You need to first produce something in order to consume it. Anyone can consume, but not everyone can produce. It's when there is an abudance of goods and services on a lower price that people have high standards of living.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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