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The story
In the world of “tobi” scaffolders — the tradespeople who erect and dismantle scaffolding at construction sites — bankruptcies are on pace to hit a record high. According to Tokyo Shoko Research, bankruptcies among scaffolding contractors are set to top 100 in a single year for the first time in 16 years, and the trend shows no sign of slowing despite a severe labor shortage reflected in a job-openings-to-applicants ratio of 7.94. Beyond the difficulty of hiring, the nature of a skilled trade that takes years to master is proving to be a barrier to training the next generation. On 5channel, users debated whether wages match the harshness of the work, along with women’s participation in the trade, reliance on foreign workers, and generational differences in values.
Published 9/23 (Wed) 7:04 AM
Tokyo Shoko Research
Headwinds are blowing through the world of tobi scaffolders, often called the “stars of the construction site.” Indispensable for everything from scaffolding to steel framing and support-post work, the trade is now seeing bankruptcies at a record pace. In an industry already gripped by a severe labor shortage — with a job-openings-to-applicants ratio of 7.94 — the difficulty of hiring, combined with the high skill and experience required, is holding back the training of young workers. Tokyo Shoko Research (TSR) analyzed bankruptcies in the scaffolding contracting business.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
The remaining 70% work at small and mid-sized firms.
↑ So the gap is 2x?
You keep posting that same copypasta, but if you're going to talk about the "gap," you need to use total employed persons as the denominator, not just regular employees.
There are all kinds of ways people work out there — big-company employees aren't as common as you think.
– Don't hire people with criminal records
You've got to do at least these two things or it's a no-go.
I think those two groups make up most of the workforce. That said, if your tattoos are visible, you'll probably get shut out of major contractors' sites.
Back in the Ice Age job market, "there's always someone else to replace you" was the assumption across every industry, so there was none of this safety-conscious "just stand by and don't touch anything" treatment.
Not a lot, but I think it's become fairly normal. Probably about the same ratio as male nurses.
Just the other day I saw a female painter on a job site.
I think that's tough. With tobi work, the result doesn't really change depending on who does it. But a plasterer who can do decorative finishing work adds value, so there's room for higher pay there.
Stick with it for 10 years and you'll out-earn a salaryman — though 90% quit before that.
Isn't it the other way around? Tobi work is about the only job that'll take rough-looking guys.
The reason proper wages can't be paid is that Japanese consumers aren't paying proper prices.
Make housing start at a minimum of 100 million yen — something ordinary people can't afford — and then you'll be able to pay proper wages.
My annual income's around 9.5 million yen.
And do you get days off on rainy days like today too? Don't know where you live, but that sounds like a solid, non-exploitative ("white") company.
Tattoos are exactly what you need to piece the body back together if you fall and get torn apart.
Is that a serious point or a joke? Which is it?
Now I'm picturing jigsaw puzzle pieces.
Working as a "kakeko" (the caller who phones victims) in a scam operation out in Southeast Asia.
Semi-gangster "dark part-time jobs" (shady, often criminal gig work recruited via social media).
You and I are both around-50 old geezers, so we can get nostalgic about the yankii era, but there aren't really delinquent kids like that anymore lol. My own kid, early 20s, grew up without a single millimeter of delinquency in him lol. The harshest I've ever lectured him was when he was laughing his head off watching TikTok or whatever at dinner, and the one time I scolded him was when he dropped his iPhone.
Whatever you call it, dokata work has gotten more mechanized, so it's a bit easier than other manual trades in some ways. Though even digging holes, some sites still make you hand-dig, and that's brutal.
Maybe just lay down a handkerchief for them.
Making women carry heavy loads violates Japan's Labor Standards Act.
What's going to happen to Japan's infrastructure down the road?
Most of the public buildings the old guard built like crazy by issuing endless government bonds are unnecessary anyway — they'll just have to be returned to nature.
Re: #110
I seriously wonder what's going to happen to all those tower condos that got built like crazy. Repairs on detached houses can be sorted out if a handful of owners agree, but with a tower condo, you could easily end up waiting five years.
Well, that hasn't changed since forever and won't going forward either.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
It’s worth noting that the rise in scaffolding-contractor bankruptcies doesn’t mean demand in the industry itself has dried up. As the 7.94 job-openings-to-applicants ratio shows, work is actually in surplus — this looks more like small and mid-sized firms being weeded out because they can’t secure workers, or can’t pass rising material and labor costs on through their contract prices. On the thread, the view that “raise wages and people will come” clashed with the view that “there’s no money to raise wages unless the construction costs clients are willing to pay go up first” — neither side fully engaged with the other, since each was only looking at one side of the supply-and-demand equation. Because the trade takes years to master, it also doesn’t mesh well with a short-term-hiring mindset that wants workers who are productive from day one, which deepens the “skilled-worker shortage” even further. Opinions were also split on accepting foreign workers, with some seeing it as one way to manage costs and others arguing it doesn’t solve the underlying problem.
*This article was compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5channel (Newsplus) thread “[Young People Turning Away from Tobi Work] Scaffolding Contractors Struggling, Bankruptcies on Pace for Record High — Over 100 for First Time in 16 Years, Worker Shortage and Cost Pressures the Sticking Points.”
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