Latest news with #laborshortage
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Big Take: The Dire Labor Shortage Hitting Green Energy
There's a vital puzzle piece missing as rich nations aim to transform their electricity grids for the AI age: millions of skilled engineers. On today's Big Take podcast, Bloomberg's Akshat Rathi joins host Sarah Holder to break down how labor shortages in the electrification industry are slowing down the green energy transition and what it would take to turn things around. Plus, the one country bucking the trend.
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
The Electric Revolution Has a Huge Labor Shortage Problem
By , Eleanor Harrison-Dengate, and David Fox Save Never miss an episode. Follow The Big Take daily podcast today. There's a vital puzzle piece missing as rich nations aim to transform their electricity grids for the AI age: millions of skilled engineers. On today's Big Take podcast, Bloomberg's Akshat Rathi joins host Sarah Holder to break down how labor shortages in the electrification industry are slowing down the green energy transition and what it would take to turn things around. Plus, the one country bucking the trend.
Japan Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
'Zombie company' apocalypse might be the point of Japan's minimum wage push
Efforts to push the minimum wage up by about 40% in just a few years could wreck a lot of smaller companies in Japan. And that just may be the point of the exercise. 'I think the significance of raising minimum wages faster than organic growth is to drive companies with low-productivity that are unable to raise wages out of business,' Shunsuke Kobayashi, chief economist at Mizuho Securities. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced last month that the government will work to increase the average minimum hourly wage to ¥1,500 ($10.50) by the end of the decade. That's about a 7% increase every year, a pace widely seen as overly ambitious. 'Realistically speaking, the prime minister's target will be quite difficult,' said Hisashi Yamada, a professor at Hosei Business School of Innovation Management. To a certain extent, the campaign may be unnecessary, Kobayashi said, since wages are expected to increase at a solid pace even without government intervention as companies need to attract workers amid serious labor shortages. Analysts say that rapid minimum-wage increases might accelerate the restructuring of small and midsize companies in Japan, many of which are referred to as "zombie companies." These companies cannot cover interest on debt with their profits. The number of zombie companies in Japan were estimated at 228,000 in fiscal 2023, according to Teikoku Databank, one of the highest levels in a decade. Because it would draw immense criticism, Ishiba will not openly say the government wants to slash the number of zombie companies, but his Cabinet probably has this goal in mind, Kobayashi said. Yamada echoed the point, saying, 'I believe there is such an intention.' He said a policy that reduces the number of zombie companies may be the right thing to do, but the effort could drive even relatively healthy companies out of business. Some small and medium-size enterprises are actually doing quite well, but they're struggling because their business clients won't agree to price increases as inflation pushes up operating costs. 'I think the government can pursue various approaches to foster wage growth, but pushing too aggressively could jeopardize public confidence in the government,' Yamada said. Ishiba's Cabinet is planning to support smaller companies in their efforts to increase productivity over the next five years and offer subsidies to prefectures that are keen to raise their minimum wages. According to a survey in March by the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a lobby group for smaller enterprises, 19.7% of small businesses said it would be 'impossible' to keep up with Ishiba's minimum wage target, while 54.5% said it would be 'difficult.' While the survey indicates that many small and medium-size companies are worried about keeping up with Ishiba's target, some business leaders have indicated they are on board. Takeshi Niinami, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, is an advocate of accelerating minimum wage increases. He has said managers unable to keep up with the pace of minimum-wage increases 'are unfit for their positions' and their companies 'should exit.' The association he runs wants the ¥1,500 minimum to be achieved in three years. Under the administration of former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the government set a mid-2030s deadline to achieve the ¥1,500 goal, but Ishiba has brought this forward. Japan's current average minimum wage is ¥1,055 an hour. It was increased by 5.1% last year. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the increase was 3% annually for several years, which was considered high at the time. The government is expected to compile its annual economic and fiscal management guideline — the honebuto no hōshin ― this month, and Ishiba's minimum wage goal will be a focus of discussion. Komeito, the coalition partner of Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party, has requested the prime minister to include the minimum-wage target in the honebuto.
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Japan to Seek $840 Billion of Inward Foreign Investment by 2030
Japan plans to raise its incoming foreign direct investment target to ¥120 trillion ($840 billion) by 2030, aiming to attract more overseas capital to help revitalize struggling regional economies and address labor shortages. The government will revise up the current ¥100 trillion goal by 20%, according to a program released by a panel overseeing the matter on Monday. The plan also outlines a longer-term objective of ¥150 trillion in foreign investment in the early 2030s.
Fox News
24-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Mike Rowe warns of declining work ethic problem as younger generation 'snowflakes' face fewer consequences
Former "Dirty Jobs" host Mike Rowe warns the United States is facing a work ethic problem, largely among Gen Z and other young generations, and argues a world without "deadlines" and "consequences" has fueled the potential crisis. Over the last few years, many critics have questioned the work ethic of members of Gen Z (generally anyone born between 1997 and 2012) and have expressed concern over how this affects young people entering the workforce. Rowe explained to "The Story" this week that one overriding factor contributing to the decline in work ethic is that younger generations face more lenient deadlines and less "consequences." When this happens, Rowe said, expectations and standards of workers can become "fungible" quickly. Many Gen Zers also benefit from having parents who are all-too-willing to financially help them. "I think that if you live your life on a high wire with a safety net 15 feet below you all of the time, there's no consequence for falling," Rowe explained. The longtime TV host explained that this apparent work-ethic dearth did not just happen, saying that "we're the clouds from which the snowflakes fell." Rowe believes there is a warped understanding of how the employment market works right now. He argued that a tight labor market is allowing for additional accommodations because people are not "lining up" to do the work needed. "We've got a huge labor shortage and the push to get to the AI thing over the finish line. That means data centers. We've got to train people to build these data centers," he said. Rowe is also the CEO of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, which advocates for skilled trades as valuable and lucrative career paths and offers a Work Ethic Scholarship Program for those pursuing skilled trades. He highlighted that his scholarship program makes several demands from individuals vying for the scholarship money. The majority of these tasks fail to be completed, Rowe revealed. "They're started, but they don't finish them for the exact reasons we're talking about. So, yeah, it's a problem," he said, saying that it's an issue he is unsure how to remedy. "The world is either going to change to accommodate the current generation, or the current generation is going to change to accommodate the world they're living in," Rowe lamented.. Rowe said that 2,200 kids in his foundation that have learned to be welders, plumbers, and other trades are making six figures, saying that people are either "inspired" by those people or they are not. "So there's enthusiasm for the work. It's just not in the places you're looking," he added.
