Japan Nov. Jobless Rate: Ideas Updated Dec. 29, 2025.

Japan jobless rate remains at 2.6% in Nov. for 4th month amid steady hiring

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251226/p2g/00m/0bu/012000c

Ideas

Japan's unemployment rate at 2.6 is still one of the lowest among OECD economies or even advanced nations in the world. The US unemployment rate is around 4.6 percent as the US is presently experiencing less job growth but not so much job losses related to lay-offs.

The Japanese economy is in a supposed labor shortage situation at this time which makes it much easier to find a job, but the key is a good job with a good salary or wages and good benefits.

While Japan seems to always have a lot of jobs, for those actually looking for jobs, in recent times maybe there hasn't been enough good jobs with good wages or good benefits and Japan too, since 2008, has transitioned into an economy which prioritizes contract work and part-time work to decrease costs for many companies.

But it seems, just maybe some or many Japanese companies have seen the light have begun to hire workers offering better wages and salaries as the economy has been stagnant for a very long time and low wages or salaries has been a major reason for the stagnation.

Workers being dismissed was not that popular for a very long time in Japan as once a company hired a worker it was challenging to get rid of them. But now times as changed, somewhat, as many Japanese companies value shareholder value more than stakeholder or employee value and which makes it much easier to get rid of employees, especially if a company's profits margins are challenged they need to reduce costs and unfortunately, employees are the first cost to be reduced.

But then again, with 740,000 leaving their current jobs to look for new jobs means that finding a new job in Japan seems to be much easier these days, as workers wouldn't leave their current job if they knew couldn't find a job easily.

However, workers leaving their jobs was down by 3.9 percent which might means there are not less good jobs available to the hiring situation has leveled off and its now a little harder to find a good job in Japan.

And yes, it seems that maybe those looking or seeking a new job have found a new job and there are now less looking for work than before. 

But then again, job seekers might be seasonal as there some good times and not so good times  to look for a job in Japan as it all depends on what new jobs seekers are looking for and what they need or want. Some might not see anything out there and decide to just stay with their current job until they see there are better jobs available.

Just because there were 118 jobs for every 100 jobs seekers doesn't mean there were 118 good jobs waiting for new jobs seekers as some might only be contract work or even part-time work which most workers don't want.

But then again, there might be many good jobs depending on the type of work a new job seeker is looking for and the sector they want to work in.

Labor and material costs might be a major reason for less hiring in the 11 major sectors as for example the lifestyle and entertainment services sector is a service type company which means they have lower profit margins which means they can't afford to hire the best and brightest and with tight profit margins they can't offer the best wages or salaries.

Profits margins are major constraint for many sectors as they can't hire those they need or want and can't offer the best wages or salaries, which might mean, a supposed labor shortage in Japan new workers have a choice and look the best salary that they can find.

Yes the introduction of labor-saving technologies including self-checkout systems is a major disruption for some or many in the Japanese economy as maybe many workers doing checkout type work have been replaced with new technology.

Japan used to be an economy that valued customer service and taking care of the customer even at checkout counters or even at supermarkets or convenience stores. But maybe its now changing a lot as companies don't value workers as much now as valuing shareholders more then stakeholders or employees is more important as companies only think of the shareholder and their profit margins at the expense of their workers or stakeholders.

This is exactly what happens in South Korea as South Korea over a five year period implement as series of minimum wage increases and many small and mid-size companies just weren't prepared for the yearly wage increase.

The South Korean government did try to give subsidies to small and mid-size companies to help with the situation but many of them still faced challenges with many of them either laying off workers, reducing hours of workers, for not hiring any more worker new workers.

Some of them tried to use technologies for self-check out or even robots at some restaurants for food service delivery but for many companies they went out of business and its was just too much for them.

Have a nice day!