Japan labour shortage prompts grudging turn to permanent jobs

Tokyo

JAPAN'S tightest labour market in decades shows signs of reversing a long shift towards the hiring of temporary workers.

The number of full-time, permanent workers is rising for the first time since the global financial crisis, outpacing growth in temporary jobs over the past two years.

"The labour shortage has become so bad that companies can't fill openings only with part-timers," said Junko Sakuyama, Tokyo-based senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.

Japan's 2.8 per cent unemployment rate is the lowest since 1994, but most of the hiring over the past decade or so has been for temporary, often part-time positio…