Majority care service providers in Japan face labor shortage: Report

By Anadolu staff

Care service providers in Japan are facing labor shortages due to low wages and heavy workloads, media reports said Saturday.

A survey conducted by the Care Work Foundation last October revealed the care service sector is not attractive for labor because of low salaries, Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.

Nearly 20,000 employees and more than 8,700 caregiving facilities in the survey and over 66% of nursing facilities experienced a labor shortage.

The annual salary for employees in the sector stood at 3.76 million yen ($26,000) in 2021.

About 69.3% of facilities said they lack on-site caregiving staff, while 47.2 % said they face a shortage of nursing staff, according to the report.

In July, another survey revealed that 27% of nursing homes and related facilities could go into bankruptcy or may shut operations in coming years due to rising prices and utility costs.

The number of people aged 75 and above rose to 19.3 million, while those 65 and above increased to 36.2 million in 2022, according to Japan’s Interior and Communications Ministry’s data.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid