Category
People and work
Hiring, retention, sudden vacancies and staffing arrangements — for teams short of hands.
Articles
9 articles
People and workA third of Japan's new graduates leave within three years: what small workplaces can change in year oneFigures published by Japan's labour ministry on 23 October show 31.2% of university graduates and 36.9% of high-school graduates who started work in spring 2023 left within three years. How to read the numbers by workplace size, industry and year, and what small teams can change in a new hire's first year.People and workBeyond the 8-Hour Day: Building Work Around Short ShiftsHiring only full-timers rules out parents with limited hours. Which tasks suit short shifts, how to fit work to time slots, and covering sudden absences.People and workA Sudden Resignation or Leave: Keeping the Work MovingWhen someone resigns or goes on leave without warning, hiring alone may be too slow. How to list the work that cannot stop, decide what to cover, delay or pause, what to check before bringing in outside help, and what to prepare in normal times.People and workHiring Older Workers: Match the Work, Not the AgeScreening by age rules out experienced people who live nearby. Split the work by physical load, hours and learning load, then find who fits each piece.People and workRising overtime may be telling you that you are short-staffedPersistent overtime is not always a busy spell. It can signal too few people or work piling onto a few. How to read it from attendance records, the legal overtime caps, and how to review staffing and work together.People and workLocal talent: check your conditions before saying "there is nobody"A hiring gap is not always a lack of people. Older workers, parents and short-hour workers may fit if the conditions do. Start by dividing up the work and keeping clear records.People and workDispatch or a service contract? Start with who gives instructionsDispatch and service contracts both bring in outside help, but differ in who directs the workers. Choose by the work, who gives instructions and who runs the site.People and workWhy new hires keep leaving, and what is happening on the floorWhen people you hire leave within months, pay is rarely the whole story. How training, uneven workloads, who to ask, job mismatch and a stretched floor add up, and how to fix the handover side first.People and workShort-Staffed Only in the Busy Season? Where to Start PreparingIf you run short at the same time every year, the shortage is predictable. Why overtime and borrowed staff are not enough, Japan's overtime caps, estimating the peak from last year's attendance, and splitting the extra work into pieces others can take.