With the surge in foreign tourists flocking to Japan, hotels are getting fully booked. However, there’s a catch—these hotels are facing a significant worker shortage.
According to a report from Asia Nikkei on Saturday (10/8/2024), Japanese hotel operators are planning to hire more foreign workers as the tourism sector continues to heat up. Many positions remain unfilled after the layoffs in the hospitality sector during the pandemic.
One hotel openly seeking workers is Tokyu Resorts & Stays. By then, foreign workers are expected to make up about 30% of their total staff, a significant jump from the current 6%.
Tokyu Resort & Stays is rapidly expanding, opening new resorts and hotels. With this growth, management is doubtful they can meet their hiring needs solely with Japanese graduates.
The focus is on Japan’s specialized skilled worker program. Tokyu Resorts has already brought in workers from the Philippines and Myanmar under this framework but now plans to look at other countries like Indonesia and Nepal.
The company is particularly interested in hiring chefs and restaurant staff.
Meanwhile, Seibu Prince Hotels Worldwide intends to hire 20% more foreign workers this fiscal year. Currently, their hotel staff is mostly made up of interns moving into full-time roles.
The company will also offer increased benefits, including a monthly living allowance of 20,000 yen and travel allowances of up to 100,000 yen per year for two trips home.
Hotel management is also focusing on educating foreign workers about Japanese culture. For example, at Shizukuishi Prince Hotel in Iwate Prefecture, employee training now includes trying local specialties like wanko soba and visits to nearby tourist spots.
The company hopes that these workers can inform visitors about not just the hotel facilities but also what the region has to offer.
In May, the company started offering a 4,000 yen subsidy each time an employee renews their work visa.
In February, the Japan Travel and Tourism Association recommended that the government revisit the job descriptions for hotel workers under the specific skilled worker program. These roles are mainly customer-facing, while housekeeping tasks are seen as non-permanent, limiting flexibility according to the industry group.
In some countries, passing the required exams to qualify for the program in the accommodation industry can be tough. In some cases, workers come to Japan only with qualifications in food service, so they end up working in restaurants instead.
The complexity of the system makes hotels hesitant to hire foreigners. Japan doesn’t have an ideal system in place for recruiting foreign hotel workers.
The government needs to create a comprehensive package to address this issue.
Aside from hiring foreigners, sharing the profits generated by the influx of tourists to make hospitality jobs more attractive is seen as another key perspective in tackling the labor shortage.
Last year, the average monthly salary in the accommodation and restaurant industry was 259,000 yen, the lowest among all industries, according to data from the Ministry of Labor. The Japanese Federation of Service and Tourism Industry Workers has set a medium-term goal of 5.5 million yen in annual pay for workers aged 35, but this target is still far from being realized.
Working conditions and environments in the tourism industry aren’t as good as in other industries. Efforts are being made to make this sector more appealing to compete for talent.