While a huge number of jobs are going to disappear in most of the Western Hemisphere on the back of the Covid-19 and its economic fallout, there is one exception: Japan.
Japan is sporting currently a ratio of jobs to applicants of 1.39, a historic low, made since even worse by the Coronavirus induced lockdown. Jobseekers in Japan use and pay agencies to convey the bad news that they are not going to accept a job offer extended. An ageing population and restrictive immigration policy has led to there being more open positions now than applicants.
It is a shame then, that at present the Japanese culture as well as laws actively discourage immigration. So the question needs to be asked whether, at the end of the COVID-19 crisis, the world will be left with countries with massive unemployment whereas other nation states will be lacking qualified workers to fill their vacant positions.
Such an imbalance clearly shows the necessity of and opportunities associated with continuous learning In order for workers’ skills to remain relevant to their employers. The work and job environment has been changed for ever by the pandemic, and governments, employed and job seekers alike are well advised to take note of the changes and integrate them into their modus operandi.
And for Japan the message clearly is to open its borders and its minds to the beneficial intellectual and economic inputs a multinational society will have.
The grumpy older man 