Nearly half of companies in Kyshu-Okinawa lack workers

Teikoku Databank Fukuoka Branch announced last week results of its annual survey on the employment situation in companies in Kyushu and Okinawa.

According to the survey, 45.9% of the companies say they were understaffed, and had not enough regular employees, and 31.7% complained that they could not find enough temporary workers. Both figures were the highest since 2006 when Teikoku started the annual survey.

According to the Fukuoka Branch, businesses find it increasingly hard to secure human resources, especially in manufacturing.

Many companies responded that they could not find enough regular employees. Of them, 54.1% were large companies and 44.2% were small and medium-size companies.

By industry, 65.9% were in transportation, which is the hardest hit by labor shortage. Most companies said that truck drivers were especially hard to find. The profession is less popular among young people because of its long working hours.

Companies also complained that they lacked temporary staff. 27.9% of large companies and 32.6% of small and medium-sized companies reported looking for more temp workers. 50% of those were retail stores. Jobs requiring the workers to stand, like at restaurants or clothing shops, had the hardest time of finding workers.

According to Teikoku Fukuoka Branch, many companies stated that, “The population is declining except in Okinawa, and the problem of insufficient workforce will continue. We expect that we have to encourage more women to join in the workforce, or start using more foreign labor.”

The survey was sent to 1,973 companies in Kyushu and Okinawa, and 713 of them responded.

17:37 28 Mar , 2024