Work style reform, wages, employment and labor shortages.
Hitachi's Physical AI strategy targets a roughly $125 billion market by 2030. Learn how Japan's manufacturing giant is using AI to preserve skilled workers' tacit knowledge and address labor shortages in social infrastructure.
Ruby creator Yukihiro Matsumoto (Matz) warns against the "juniors are unnecessary" narrative in the AI era. If training opportunities for young engineers disappear, technical knowledge transfer will cease, leaving the IT industry a "scorched earth." Exploring Japan's IT talent challenges and global trends.
Japan's 4-day work week adoption is accelerating in 2025, with Tokyo Metropolitan Government and major corporations like ZOZO, Fast Retailing, and Panasonic leading the charge. Explore the three implementation models, benefits, challenges, and what this means for Japan's notoriously long work culture.
Japan's labor shortage bankruptcies reached a record 427 cases in 2025. A critical shift has emerged: employee turnover is now causing more business failures than recruitment difficulties. With 77% of affected companies having fewer than 10 employees, small businesses unable to match wage increases are being pushed out. This article explores the structural challenges in Japan's labor market and how the "quit-driven" bankruptcy phenomenon is reshaping the business landscape.
Why rugby backgrounds carry weight in Japan's job market, from corporate teams under League One to what recruiters actually say. Includes how "no-side" became a distinctly Japanese idea, and the problems with athlete-first hiring.
Philosophy-related skills on LinkedIn increased 6x in 5 years. Learn why global giants like Google and Apple hire in-house philosophers and their crucial role in AI ethics, governance, and corporate compliance in the modern business landscape.
Japan's foreign workforce topped 2.3 million at the end of October 2024, a record, as shortages bit in logistics, nursing care, and construction. The government doubled the Specified Skilled Worker cap to 820,000, against a projected shortfall of 3.84 million workers by 2035.
Japan's 2024 spring wage talks delivered a 5.10% increase, the highest in 33 years, yet real wages fell for four straight months. Rice up 64.5%, a weak yen, and logistics costs squeezed households, and how the gap finally began to close in 2026.