Comments on: Working Poor in Japan – Problems or Untapped Business Opportunities? http://www.jdr-japan.com/blog/2008/01/18/working-poor-in-japan-problems-or-untapped-business-opportunities/ Our blog about the Japanese market and consumers today Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:18:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Noriko http://www.jdr-japan.com/blog/2008/01/18/working-poor-in-japan-problems-or-untapped-business-opportunities/#comment-3 Noriko Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:11:43 +0000 http://www.jdr-japan.com/blog/2008/01/18/working-poor-in-japan-%e2%80%93-problems-or-untapped-business-opportunities/#comment-3 Population aging is one of reasons for boosting the inequality along with changes in the labour structure for sure. We can see Japanese consumers becoming more conscious about value against how much they pay. Nowadays, flea markets become popular among Japanese. There is even a "flea market" guide on the website! Population aging is one of reasons for boosting the inequality along with changes in the labour structure for sure.

We can see Japanese consumers becoming more conscious about value against how much they pay. Nowadays, flea markets become popular among Japanese. There is even a “flea market” guide on the website!

]]> By: Ken http://www.jdr-japan.com/blog/2008/01/18/working-poor-in-japan-problems-or-untapped-business-opportunities/#comment-2 Ken Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:14:46 +0000 http://www.jdr-japan.com/blog/2008/01/18/working-poor-in-japan-%e2%80%93-problems-or-untapped-business-opportunities/#comment-2 The most recent labor force survey showed cash payments bumping up 0.1% in November, and that was only the second month in 2007 that has reported a gain in income. I've set to see good figures showing how the retirement of baby boomers combined with the increase in contract/part-time workers (now past 30% of the workforce) is affecting wages, but it seems to be one of the driving forces behind the income gap. It doesn't look like this trend is likely to be reversed any time soon. The government is looking to further deregulate the dispatch agency sector, which is only bad for workers. The Toyota union is apparently looking for something like an average 1,000 yen per month raise for its employees at the shunto, which is a joke. Given rising food and energy prices, there is going to have to be more marketing attention paid to the 'value-conscious consumers' - what a euphemism! I think that in 2008 we're going to start to see it more and more in the supermarket industry, which needs to do something to recoup sales lost to convenience stores. Department stores, after eleven straight years of falling revenue, are going to have to shift their focus and be able to compete for the 'value conscious' yen. The most recent labor force survey showed cash payments bumping up 0.1% in November, and that was only the second month in 2007 that has reported a gain in income. I’ve set to see good figures showing how the retirement of baby boomers combined with the increase in contract/part-time workers (now past 30% of the workforce) is affecting wages, but it seems to be one of the driving forces behind the income gap.

It doesn’t look like this trend is likely to be reversed any time soon. The government is looking to further deregulate the dispatch agency sector, which is only bad for workers. The Toyota union is apparently looking for something like an average 1,000 yen per month raise for its employees at the shunto, which is a joke.

Given rising food and energy prices, there is going to have to be more marketing attention paid to the ‘value-conscious consumers’ - what a euphemism! I think that in 2008 we’re going to start to see it more and more in the supermarket industry, which needs to do something to recoup sales lost to convenience stores. Department stores, after eleven straight years of falling revenue, are going to have to shift their focus and be able to compete for the ‘value conscious’ yen.

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