“Unemployment is skyrocketing” is a quote many people probably heard these last months. Now how is Japan holding up? In June, I’ll quickly touch on the topic of Japan’s unemployment status. The full column can be found at business-japan.jp.
The global pandemic has without doubt brought destruction to many economies. In the U.S. for example, unemployment spiked to almost 13% in May, the highest level since the Great Depression.
However, in the case of Japan, the numbers have barely moved. Salaries and working hours have also remained stable. Does this mean that the rest of the economy remains untouched? Recent numbers from the first quarter indicate a decline of about 2% vs last year. It seems that a combination of cultural and demographic factors has made Japan resilient.
As the author of this short text, I’ve also been quite fortunate myself, being able to relax and take time off work during shutdown days. I’ve also been working remotely since the middle of April. My employer, a large international company, committed to paying an allowance of 80-90% of the salary for “Fushugyo” or shutdown days. This has been possible due to the company taking advantage of the Japanese government subsidies…
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