I used to work at 7-Eleven in Tokyo and sometimes had to cover entire shifts by myself. Register, stocking, deliveries, cleaning, customer service, everything. It really showed me how bad the labor shortage is getting. I’ve also noticed how many coworkers in convenience stores, logistics, and elder care are from Vietnam, Nepal, the Philippines, and other countries. Without them, a lot of these jobs simply wouldn’t get done.
At the same time, Japan’s demographics are brutal. Last year there were around 720,000 births and 1.6 million deaths, so the population dropped by almost 900,000 people in a single year. The median age is already fifty. The dependency ratio is about 70 percent and heading toward 80 percent by 2050. Social welfare spending keeps rising, but there are fewer and fewer workers paying into the system.
In Tokyo it still feels busy, but if you go outside the big metro areas you see schools closing, hospitals shutting down, bus routes cut, even whole towns fading away.
I’m curious how others living here see this. Have you experienced the effects of the labor shortage directly, either at work or in your area? Do you think Japan is already depending on immigrant workers more than people admit?
by Parking_Attitude_519