Economy More Japanese seeking better pay overseas

When a 34-year-old Japanese systems engineer on a business trip to Europe learned that a colleague who worked for a group company in Europe had a higher salary than him, finished work at 6 p.m., ate dinner with his family, and had weekends off, he decided to move from a Japanese automaker to a Swedish company. His annual income has increased by about 1.5 times compared to his previous job in Japan, and in Sweden, he has gained a living environment that would have been difficult to obtain in his home country.

Another example is sushi chef Yasuhiro Tanaka, 37, who worked at a fancy Ginza Sushi bar where for two and a half years, he never got the chance to work at the counter. Instead, he was busy buying food, preparing meals for other colleagues and answering the phone. His annual salary was about 3 million JPY. He moved to the U.S. and is now the owner and chef of a sushi restaurant in Miami.

According to the OECD, Japan's average wage ranks 24th out of 34 countries, the lowest among the Group of Seven nations. As a result, an increasing number of Japanese workers have emigrated in search of better working conditions rather than stagnate in Japan:

More Japanese businesspeople are moving overseas for better pay and working conditions. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the average wage in Japan in 2021 was USD 39,711, barely increasing over the 30 years since 1991, when it was USD 37,866. Meanwhile, wages in the U.S. are about 1.9 times higher than in Japan, reaching USD 74,738, and increased about 1.5 times over the same period. South Korea, with an average wage of USD 42,747, surpassed Japan in 2015. Inquiries from overseas job seekers were 1.5 times higher in 2022 than in 2021, partly because of the weak yen, according to Satsuki Tamura, founder of GJJ, an overseas career change support company in Tokyo. Previously, most job seekers were young people in their late 20s and early 30s who had graduated from prestigious universities. The number of people in their 50s and 60s with experience working overseas has recently increased. Many seek jobs in Southeast Asia through local hiring by Japanese companies, but they do not intend to permanently stay in the region.

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Paywall alert:

I know a Japanese woman who is a qualified teacher and will be starting a master's degree in the UK later this year. Rather than teach in Japan to save up for living expenses while doing her degree, she flew to Australia a few weeks ago, where she is currently working in a butcher's (!), because the pay for entry-level jobs in Australia is better than that for many professional jobs in Japan.

Its as if people (especially women) have no motivation to stay in Japan, and almost every motivation to sink roots elsewhere.
Man, the Japanese government sure has job on their hands. I'm not sure the current crew is up to the task.