Mitsumaru Kumagai, a researcher at Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd, speaking about the challenges Japanese companies face in attracting non-student foreign workers.
© Yomiuri ShimbunVoices
in
Japan
quote of the day
Workplaces need to display signs in English and improve their health care and educational systems as a means of increasing their appeal.
©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
8 Comments
Login to comment
Toasted Heretic
My experiences to date have been very positive and I am impressed with the care.
However; there are areas that are desperately crying out for more expansion and resources - mental health care is the big one.
JeffLee
Cutting benefits like health insurance and forcing young people to pay for their own education, like MBA programs, rather than in-house training, is part of the "flexible" free-market "reform" movement.
It seems this guy wants to turn the clock back to the era of high economic growth and stability. What's wrong with him?
ultradork
Signs in Engrish won't "attract" any candidates.
Try compelling roles, great training, clear career progression, managers that value real productivity as opposed to butts-in-seats for 14 hrs/day equates to a "loyal worker", market-rate salaries, an end to meetings after 6PM and so on...
fxgai
I usually find myself in agreement with Kumagai-san but not on this.
English signs probably shouldn't be a top concern. If your workforce can't communicate with one another you're going to struggle I fear. (I remember seeing an English sign on the road down in Shikoku that said we were coming up to "Toon Town". We were just passing through a place called 東温市, as I recall, so good luck finding Bugs Bunny if you couldn't read Kanji.)
The biggest draw for me when considering working for any particular employer would be that they have a talented workforce - that is the people that one works with have valuable knowledge and skills, and the ability to communicate effectively with one another. (Is my bar too low? I suspect it might be exceedingly high?)
fxgai
I am curious why domtoidi got so many thumbs-down.
Is the Japanese health-care system so much more broken than places elsewhere? What am I missing?
PerformingMonkey
I suppose the poor salaries on offer have nothing to do with the problem?
JeffLee
Because I'm from a country whose health care is as accessible as Japan's but more affordable, and I've had a couple of bad experiences at the hands of Japanese doctors, nurses and dentists. And no, I don't come from "the moon. "
domtoidi
Improve health care compared to where? Where is health care more accessible and reasonable in cost than Japan? The Moon?