Shortage of workers hurts restaurants and construction firms in Japan

Companies in specific industrial sectors, especially restaurants and the construction industry, are struggling with a serious shortage of workers. There is also a widening gap between employers and job seekers over the terms and conditions of employment, such as low wages. The government and business circles aim to increase the working population to help hike corporate earnings and wages to ensure “a virtuous economic cycle,” but enormous issues must be resolved before this goal can be realized. Price hikes Ichibanya Co., a company based in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, that operates the Curry House CoCo Ichibanya restaurant chain, increased the price of its highly popular pork curry dish by ¥21 in some of its restaurants, starting Dec. 1. In its restaurants in Tokyo, the dish now costs ¥484. The price hike will be implemented in other restaurants nationwide by December next year. To compete with rival companies that have raised wages,...