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Japanese convenience stores hire foreigners to tackle labor shortage

Facing a serious labor shortage, major convenience store operators are stepping up efforts to hire overseas students and homemakers with young children to work in their outlets.

  (The Japan News/ANN)
Tokyo, Japan
Mon, August 28, 2017

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Japanese convenience stores hire foreigners to tackle labor shortage Major convenience store operators in Japan are hiring overseas students and homemakers with young children to work in their outlets. (The Japan News/File)

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n a bid to add overseas students to its workforce, Lawson, Inc. began conducting training courses in Vietnam and South Korea last year, targeting students planning to study in Japan. 

The company tied up with local temporary staffing agencies to teach participants how to use a cash register and deal with customers. By implementing such job training programs early on, Lawson hopes the participants will eventually work at its stores after their arrival in Japan. 

Also last year, FamilyMart Co. — in cooperation with vocational schools across the nation — began holding recruitment explanation sessions for overseas students.

Seven-Eleven Japan Co. plans to open day care facilities for employees at franchisees to improve the working environment for homemakers with small children. Two day nurseries will open in September on the second floors of the stores in Ota Ward, Tokyo, and Nishi Ward, Hiroshima. The company will see how it goes and consider increasing the number of such stores.

The three major operators in the nation operate a total of more than 50,000 convenience stores. It has become a serious business challenge for them to solve their labor shortage.  

 Each company will likely need to think more deeply about how to resolve the situation. 


This article appeared on The Japan News newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
 

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