Predicting the Japanese job market in 2022
xkula’s 2 predictions for the job market in 2022
2021 was a weird year for all of us. Starting with the prolonged effect of the COVID-19 from 2020, a lot of us were forced to work remotely in 2021. In Japan, we had the Tokyo summer Olympics but now one was able to go see it at the stadium because Japan was under a state of emergency during the summer. However, after the autumn season, things seemed to be getting better. With the number of infections from COVID-19 lessening and restrictions loosening, it appeared that the economy was ready to bounce back again.
Presumably, there will be no more tight restrictions in 2022, like we’ve seen in 2020 and 2021, but no one can be 100% about it. After the outbreak of the Omicron variant in November 2021, Japan closed all of its borders to foreign students and simple business trips. Japan was one of the earliest countries in the world to react to border controls, just second to Israel.
Therefore, from what we can easily speculate from this point (December 2021) is the following.
- Japan’s economy will most like bounce back up from the previous year.
- It may still be extremely difficult for foreigners to enter Japan and get a job here.
Why the economy is likely to bounce back in 2022
According to research conducted by DIR (大和総研), Japan’s real GDP growth rate in 2022 is expected to be 4.0%, as high as in Europe and the United States. DIR stated in more detail for the economic outlook that,
“While the resumption of economic activity and the economic measures put together by the Fumio Kishida administration are expected to boost growth in personal consumption and capital investment, government consumption is expected to be sluggish as the need for measures to deal with the Corona crisis declines.”
For concerns against the Omicron variant, DIR states that,
The biggest risk factor for economic downturn is a new coronavirus variant. If the Omicron strain were to become endemic in Japan and the infection prevention rate were to drop by 30% ppt, the country would be forced to enforce three tighter restrictions on behavior in 2022. In the same year, real GDP will decline by 10 trillion yen on a national basis, and the growth rate will drop by 1.8 percentage points. There is also a possibility that new mutant strains will emerge, especially those that reduce the effectiveness of preventing severe disease.
Therefore, unless there is a big outbreak of the Omicron variant in Japan or another type of variant spreading in Japan, it seems that the economy will bounce back in 2022.
When will foreigners be able to enter Japan again?
It seemed like Japan was ready to reopen its borders for foreigners in the late fall of 2021. There were numerous petitions for reopening Japan’s border, especially made by academia and students all over the world. Because of this, Priminister Kishida decided to open its borders again to foreign students who were willing to study at a Japanese university. However, with the outbreak of the Omicron variant, things took a 180-degree turn quickly.
According to the statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the following steps were taken on November 30th.
(1) New entry of foreign nationals based on this measure on or after November 30 (excluding those who departed from a foreign country before midnight (Japan time) on November 30 and arrived after the same time) will not be permitted.
(2) The acceptance of applications from responsible parties to the competent ministries and agencies for specified activities by holders of vaccination certificates based on this measure on and after November 30, as well as prior screening by the relevant ministries and agencies before returning to Japan and entering Japan, will be suspended. In addition, those who return to Japan or re-enter the country after midnight (Japan time) on December 1, 2021 will not be allowed to take the specified activities of vaccination certificate holders.
So the question is when will people living outside of Japan be able to enter the country again? According to Priminister Kishida’s press conference on the 21st of 2021, he stated that he will extend “for the time being,” the measures to strengthen the border controls, including the suspension of the entry of new foreigners from all over the world, which he had planned to do until the end of the year.
Trend, Changes, and demand of job market in Japan
Job market trends in Japan, 2022
The biggest trend in Japan for the past couple of years has been “DX” a.k.a digital transformation. Contrary to the futuristic and cyberpunk image of Japan, the country is actually slow at incorporating digital tools in corporations compared to other advanced countries. Because of the outbreak of COVID-19, Japan is seeing more and more companies rushing to implement DX, but there aren’t enough people who are well equipped with the assets and knowledge necessary to execute the transformation. As a result of this, numerous consulting firms such as Accenture and Deloitte are more and more employees who can help companies with implementing DX.
If you are interested in learning more about Japan and DX, or just tech in general, please have a look at some of these articles as well.
8 things you should know before getting a job in Tech, IT in Japan.
How to get into Big Tech in Japan. GAFA, FAANG, GAFAM
FAANG in Japan: Impact of tech giants and GAFA has to Japan.
GAFA or FAANG. Origin of the name for Big Tech in Japan
Another major trend in Japan is globalization. Japan is an island nation with a population of 120 million people and has the world’s 3rd largest economy. Because of this, there is a low incentive in learning a foreign language since you would have a hard time living in Japan even if you don’t know a single line of English. However, things are starting to change in Japan. Competition is increasing on a global scale and companies such as Toyota lost their crown as the highest valued car manufacturer in the market to Tesla.
Toyota is seen by the Japanese as one of the companies that represent the nation, not only because it is the highest valued company in the stock market but also because Japanese people can actually see that people all over the world are driving a car with the logo TOYOTA in it.
A lot of Japanese businessmen are realizing that they can’t be confided in an island nation but need to go out and fight in the global market. Therefore, people who can speak a foreign language are highly valued in Japan. Currently, there aren’t enough people in Japan who can speak a foreign language, those people who can speak Japanese and another language can expect to have a lot of work opportunities in Japan.
Website such as xkula.com is trying to help those who are trying to start their career in a company located in Japan. If you want to read more about companies in Japan about how they are trying to get more foreign-language speakers, please have a look at these articles as well.
Speaking English in Japanese offices. English friendly companies in Japan
Answers to 7 frequently asked questions about working in Japan
Changes and demand in Japan 2022 job market
Let’s see the numbers for how the demand in the Japanese job market is shifting. As shown in the graph below, when comparing the ratio of job openings for college graduates by employee size, there has been little change over the last five years for companies with 300 or more employees. (According to an article by offerbox)
In contrast, for companies with fewer than 300 employees, this ratio has decreased for two consecutive years since graduating in 2019, with a particularly large decrease (5.22 times) observed. In the graduation disaster of Corona 2021, but recovered 1.88 points. final graduation in 2022. Graduation 2022 Latest vacancies rate is expected to remain at the same level going forward for small and mid-sized companies.
When comparing job placement rates for university graduates by industry, there were no significant changes in job placement rates in the manufacturing, distribution, financial, and services & information industry for the past five years. In contrast, the share of employment positions in the distribution and construction sectors decreased by 5.29 points and 3.54 points respectively over the 3-year period 2019 – 2021. Looking at graduates, however, In 2022, it can be seen that the distribution and construction sectors start to increase by 0.84 and 0.39 points respectively compared to last year. 
From these numbers overall, you can predict that some industries have higher demand than others but in general, Japan’s demand for employing people stands strong and you can see this by the fact that the effective job offer ratio in September was 1.16 times.
2022 will be a good year for job seekers in Japan
Go global and go digital
If you are thinking of working in Japan in 2022, it is a good time to do that. Especially if you can speak another language other than Japanese and are capable of utilizing digital tools, you can expect to get a job in Japan with great conditions. However, it is still unclear when the borders will reopen in Japan for people living outside of Japan. We will have to just hope that the Japanese government will allow foreigners to have the opportunity to start a new career in Japan as soon as possible.
If you wanted to read more articles about getting a job in Japanese as a foreigner, please have a look at some of these articles.
6 Websites for foreigners in Japan: Job information, work environment
Foreigners should be careful of these things before moving to Japan
8 mistakes you will make working in a company in Japan as a foreigner
