Workers Changing Jobs Decrease Sharply in Japan: Govt Report

Tokyo, Sept. 6 (Jiji Press)--Despite improvement in the employment situation, workers changing jobs continue to decrease sharply in Japan, reflecting the sluggish labor market amid the prolonged novel coronavirus pandemic, the labor ministry said Tuesday.

In its 2022 white paper on labor economy, the ministry pointed to the need to facilitate the movement of human resources through job changes in order to tackle the serious labor shortages in sectors such as information technology, elderly care and welfare.

In 2021, Japan's employment situation began to improve in October thanks to a recovery in social and economic activity after the government lifted its COVID-19 state of emergency and pre-emergency measures, the annual report said.

In particular, the number of female workers in regular employment increased 290,000 from 2020 to 12.33 million.

Meanwhile, the number of workers switching jobs dropped 310,000 to 2.9 million, falling sharply for the second straight year.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]