Job availability in Japan falls for third straight year

Job availability in Japan has fallen for its third straight year in 2021, amid the pandemic which caused businesses to hire for fewer roles, showed official data. 

The ratio of job availability stood at 1.13, indicating that there were 113 openings for every 100 jobseekers, down 0.05 points compared to the previous year, following a 0.42 point plunge in 2020, writes Xinhua news.

In 2021, the number of jobseekers in the country amounted to 1.9 million, an increase of 6.6%. The figure includes full-time homemakers seeking for jobs to make up for dwindling family incomes due to the economic fallout caused by the pandemic.

The labour market took a hit with the various restrictions and states of emergencies declared in the country, with eateries having to close earlier, and residents urged to avoid unnecessary gatherings. 

Meanwhile, the jobless rate in the country recorded 2.8% in 2021, unchanged from 2020’s rate but lower than the 2.4% in 2019, according to data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

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The number of non-regular workers also took a hit for the second consecutive year, falling from 260,000 to 20.6 million. This was attributed to the impact of the pandemic on the F&B industry, which employs the majority of such workers.