Working the shopping mall: Labour shortages and the dualities in Japan’s labour economy

ABSTRACT

The Japanese labour market has for long been sharply divided along the lines of gender and contractual status, with these attributes largely determining employment conditions. Yet, Japan’s demographic situation has led to labour shortages, and it needs to be asked whether companies can sustain current employment practices. This article seeks answers to this question by looking at the employment situation in retailing, specifically in shopping centres, places that are demanding in terms of working hours and employ high numbers of female and non-regular employees. The emergence of labour shortages led to a lively discourse among the members of the Japan Council of Shopping Centers, the industry’s association, and this discourse has been featured in the industry journal SC Japan Today. Analysing this discourse, the article argues that companies have built their business models on the assumption of a ready labour supply, and they are now becoming more flexible in employment practices. Yet, companies avoid a discussion of remuneration levels and are also looking at other solutions such as the reorganization of work processes or automation, and especially the employment of foreign employees. An increase in foreign employees may lead to new dualities based on nationality in the future.

KEYWORDS:

• Japan
• employment
• non-regular employment
• retailing
• foreign employees
• shopping centres

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ This is a translation close to the Japanese title. The ministry itself provides a summary version of the white paper under the title: “Challenges Facing Japan: Work Styles and Labour Shortages” (MHLW 2019b).

² The term arubaito originates from the German word Arbeit (work). It’s meaning in Japan has changed from just work (1914) to academic work (1925) and eventually from the 1930s onwards has developed into the common term to describe part-time work by students (Irvin 2011). It is often further shortened to baito.

³ These figures heavily reflect the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic reduced retail sales especially for shopping malls, department stores and convenience stores while increasing the share of food supermarkets and home centres. For 2018, the share of shopping centres stood at 22.5%, for department stores at 4.4%, and for convenience stores at 8.2% (METI 2019).

⁴ Articles from the magazine are referenced as SCJT, followed by the publication year, month and page numbers of the article.

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Hendrik Meyer-Ohle

Hendrik Meyer-Ohle (Dr. Phil. Marburg) has been teaching and researching in the Department of Japanese Studies at the National University of Singapore since 2000. His research focusses on retailing, marketing and human resource management of Japanese companies. Publications include Innovations and Dynamics in Japanese Retailing (Palgrave 2003) and Japanese Workplaces in Transition (Palgrave 2009). Recent articles have appeared in Work, Employment and Society, Social Science Japan Journal, International Migration, and Asian Business and Management.