The ratio of job offers to seekers fell in fiscal 2023 for the first time in three years as the number of openings dropped partly as a result of labor-saving measures offered by new technologies.
The ratio averaged 1.29 in the year ended March, down 0.02 point from fiscal 2022, the labor ministry said April 30.
The proportion means there were 129 openings for every 100 applicants.
While the average number of officially registered job seekers increased 0.1 percent from fiscal 2022 to about 1.92 million per month, the average number of active job offers decreased 1.6 percent to about 2.47 million.
The number of job openings dropped although many industries have reported severe labor shortages.
Masahiko Yamada, director-general of the labor ministry’s Employment Security Bureau, cited corporate investments in labor-saving technologies as a reason.
He said understaffed businesses are turning to such innovations as touch-panel order devices, food-serving robots and self-service checkouts, instead of taking on new workers.
“The trend is undermining the long-held assumption that humans interact with customers,” Yamada said.
When economic activities rebounded after the novel coronavirus pandemic, many companies recruited workers, particularly in the restaurant and tourism industries.
But that post-pandemic demand for additional staff cooled in fiscal 2023, ministry officials said.
A surge in material prices also contributed to the decline in job offers in the manufacturing and construction industries, ministry officials said.
Taro Saito, who heads the economic research department at NLI Research Institute, said the manufacturing industry accounts for about 20 percent of all employed workers.
But job offers decreased in the sector partly because the sluggish Chinese economy dampened exports and Daihatsu Motor Co. was forced to suspend shipments due to testing fraud.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate averaged 2.6 percent in fiscal 2023, unchanged from the previous year, according to the internal affairs ministry announcement on April 30.