Introduction
The unemployment rate in Japan went up in May 2020 to 2.9% from 2.6% in the previous month and the market expectations drop to 2.8% from the previous expectation of 3.1%.the latter is the second largest joblessness rate that has been witnessed since 2017 and is highest that 2.3% than in the previous month (Hamada and Kurosaka 24). The number of people unemployed decreased by 1.5% to approximately 1.93 million whereas the employment reached 66 million. The job to application ratio rose to 1.11 in June from 1.20 in May and this was the lowest since 2010 (Hamada and Kurosaka 27).
Japan is a heavily industrialized country. The country, which is the third largest economy has emerged from the shell of world War 2 ruins to become the industrial giant that it is today. With only The US and China having bigger economies, Japanese industrial growth has been realized through a combination of stringent government policies, a spirit of innovation, strict discipline among its citizens and a determination to rise from the devastation of been nuke-bombed and become a leading player in world affairs (Tachibanaki and Sakurai 29). Labor has been the engine that has been driving the country’s economy to what it is today. With a workforce that is skilled, self-driven and determined, the country’s industries have been growing steadily since the war to become the global industrial powerhouse that it is today (Van Acht, Stam and Thurik 45).
Compared to other developed countries, the Japanese unemployment rate is very low. This is due to several factors. Fist, the government has been encouraging and helping the citizens to innovate and invest in industries (Kuroki 47). The country knew that to rise up from the devastation of the war, it had to quickly and earnestly develop its industries. The government therefore embarked on a drive to get folks from their traditional livelihoods of farming and to embrace opening up of factories, designing and innovating new products (Van Stel, Thurik and Verheul 132).
These sprouting industries needed workforce to run and manage the factory machines. The government set the countries education system with a bias towards teaching schoolchildren on industry, innovation and technology (Chen, Choi and Mori 67). The average Japanese high school graduate is therefore equipped with skills in developing, running, operating and repair of machines and industrial management (Van Acht, Stam and Thurik 144).
The country’s industry which consists mainly of electronic, motor vehicle, telecommunication and other products, keeps growing every year therefore providing ready jobs for the incoming jobseekers that have just finished school (Van Acht, Stam and Thurik 111). This ensures that the number of jobless folks in the country is kept low as compared to other countries. Another factor which has contributed to the low unemployment rate is the demographic improvement of employed people based on gender (Van Stel, Thurik and Verheul 89). The traditional set-up of women been left at home to take care of the domestic needs of the family has been shattered by modernity. Many women are increasingly learning industrial subjects in school and getting employed in factories once they have completed their education (Chen, Choi and Mori 121). The huge number of vacancies in factories and other industries keeps absolving the graduates into their workforce hence maintaining the low number of unemployed rate has increased the rate of employment (Van Stel, Thurik and Verheul 102).
Right after World War 2, the Japanese set out to revive and revitalize their industries that had been devastated by the two wars. Using a combination of Japanese ingrained culture of overcoming the odds and raising from the ashes like a phoenix, the Government encouraged its citizens to get activate their innovation bug into full gear (Van Acht, Stam and Thurik 99). It encouraged and offered them incentives and financial assistance. Two decades after the war, the world was taking notice of the industrial revolution that was taking place in Japan. The country was exporting commodities like electronics, automobiles and automotive components, power generating materials as well as steel and other minerals (Van Stel, Thurik and Verheul 198).
The Japanese employment culture has also helped to keep the employment rate at steady levels. The Japanese government has very strict laws governing how companies should treat their employees and rules governing their employment contracts (Chen, Choi and Mori 137). Once an employee has been permanently employed, the countries labor rules have ensured that every aspect of their affairs is covered and that no unnecessary layoffs are made (Van Acht, Stam and Thurik 187). For instance, during the current outbreak of Covid-19, many permanent employees in Japanese companies are assured that they will not be terminated and will still be getting their salaries even when the pandemic has forced their employers to send them home. This is the reason why the Japanese unemployment rate is still very low while that of other developed countries is soaring high (Tachibanaki and Sakurai 119).
Conclusion
The Japan economic system is such it strives to absorb the steady stream of incoming employee who are trained with a deliberate bias to gain kills that are required to either get employed in the existing companies or to be innovative and start their own companies. It is a system that works very well to maintain a balance between an increase in industries and a steady supply of labor force for those industries. With the current situation where the labor market is ageing and retiring faster than it is churning out new employees, the country’s unemployment rate is set to remain one of the lowest in the whole world.
References
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Hamada, Y and Y Kurosaka. “The relationship between production and unemployment in Japan: Okun’s law in comparative perspective.” European economic review 25(1) (2016): 71-94.
Kuroki, M. “Suicide and unemployment in Japan: evidence from municipal level suicide rates and age-specific suicide rates.” The Journal of Socio-Economics 39(6) (2016): 683-691.
Tachibanaki, T and K Sakurai. “Labour supply and unemployment in Japan.” European economic review 35(8) (2015): 1575-1587.
Van Acht, J, et al. “Business ownership and unemployment in Japan (No. 0904).” Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 17.2 (2015): 163-189.
Van Stel, A, et al. “The relationship between entrepreneurship and unemployment in Japan (No. 07-080/3).” Tinbergen institute Discussion paper 65.7 (2018): 176-245.