March 25, 2023. Hokkaido Newspaper.
Rapid recovery of overseas visitors exacerbates serious labor shortage in the Niseko ski resort region. Job-to-applicants ratio is 9 times higher than before the Covid19 crisis. In the international ski resort area of Niseko, the labor shortage is becoming increasingly serious as the number of visitors from overseas recovers following the relaxation of immigration restrictions by the Japanese Government imposed during the Covid19 trainwreck. In particular, the active job openings-to-applicants ratio for hospitality-related work such as in accommodation facilities is around 8 to 9 times, reaching a higher level than before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Hotel operators and other businesses are already working hard to secure foreign workers for the upcoming winter season as early as this spring, and there are even moves to offer some of the winter-only staff year-round employment. Within the jurisdiction of the Kutchan Branch of the Iwanai Public Employment Security Office, which has jurisdiction over the Niseko area, the active job openings-to-applicants ratio in the service industry was 9.33 times in January and 7.76 times in February. The Food and Beverage preparation sector also remained in the 4-5 times range of job openings-to-applicants. According to a spokesman of the Kutchan Branch of the Iwanai Public Employment Security Office, the number of job openings at accommodation facilities and restaurants in the area, far exceeds the number of applicants. The number of job openings in both the accommodation and restaurant industries dropped to zero between 2020 and 2021, when the number of foreign visitors plummeted due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but the tourism sector has recovered sharply since then with the Japanese Government opening the borders and removing travel restrictions. Even before Covid19, labor shortages were an issue at the ski resort with the number of active job openings-to-applicants ratio in the customer service and waitstaff category at 6.0 times and the active job openings-to-applicants ratio in the food and beverage preparation industry at 3 times. Since October 2022 when Japan opened up again to the world, the ski resort saw a sudden influx of tourists and now the labor shortages are glaringly acute. According to the four major ski resorts operators in the Niseko ski resort area, the total number of people transported by lifts and gondolas between December 2022 and March 2023 was approximately 7.91 million. This represents a number 2.4 times higher than the previous season and marks a return to 87% of the number recorded during the same period between 2018-2019. An official at the Kutchan Branch of the Iwanai Public Employment Security Office said, “Since the number of employees was reduced due to Covid19, the number of staff at accommodation facilities and other industries still has not fully recovered in response to the rapid recovery in the number of customers visiting this winter season.” The acute shortage of human resources is expected to linger even through the summer tourist season, and the active job openings-to-applicants ratio is likely to remain high for the foreseeable future, partly due to the increased recruitment activities of companies looking ahead to next winter. An executive of a management company servicing condominiums and vacation homes in the area revealed his anguish, saying, “Even if we were able to secure enough human resources for our food and beverage services, cleaning services, etc., some of our staff were lured away to other companies.” As a countermeasure, the company raised salaries for full-time employees by more than 17%, and in order to prepare for this winter season, some of the foreign staff, which had been hired only for the winter, have been offered year-round employment. The Kutchan office of Kyowa General Management, based in Otaru, which is a cleaning, linen, laundry and security company for more than a dozen hotels and other businesses in the Niseko area, had no choice but to turn down new requests for services this winter on a daily basis due to a shortage of staff. Director Mr. Kanazawa said, “As new accommodation facilities continue to open, the amount of work will increase. KGM has been taking measures to cope with this situation by raising the staff's hourly wages by about 10% over the past two years, and from this summer, for the first time, Vietnamese technical interns will be assigned to work for the company.” Niseko Village Ski Resort in Niseko Town, which operates five affiliated hotels, needs several hundred winter staff and will begin recruiting English-speaking foreigners in earnest this spring in preparation for next winter. Mr. Tanaka, General Manager of the Management Division of Niseko Village Ski Resort, said, “We are moving ahead with hiring faster than before the Coronavirus pandemic. We would like to greatly increase the number of ski instructors and other staff.”
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