JAPAN DEFENSE FORCES AT RECORD-LOW 51% OF RECRUITMENT GOAL IN FY 2023 - TOKYO JAPAN

JAPAN DEFENSE FORCES AT RECORD-LOW 51% OF RECRUITMENT GOAL IN FY 2023 - TOKYO JAPAN

@Jackie San

TOKYO

Japan's Self-Defense Forces secured a record-low 51 percent of its recruitment goal in fiscal 2023, the Defense Ministry said Monday, as competition with the private sector to secure personnel has intensified amid the nation's chronic labor shortage.

In the fiscal year through March, the SDF took in 9,959 new members, far short of the 19,598 it targeted. At 51 percent of the goal, the recruitment fell below the previous low of 56 percent in fiscal 1993 to mark the worst result since the SDF's establishment in 1954, the ministry said.

The data was revealed at the inaugural meeting of a ministry committee tasked with discussing ways to address the SDF personnel shortage.

The committee is considering measures such as improving wages and working conditions to overcome the recruitment shortfall, as well as looking at increasing efficiencies through the use of artificial intelligence and utilizing more retired service members.

Japan aims to boost its defense capacity under the government's long-term National Security Strategy policy guidelines, which were updated in late 2022 to deal with increasingly severe security challenges posed by China, North Korea and Russia.

But the SDF has been struggling to meet its higher recruitment target due to a decline in applicants as the nation faces a chronic labor shortage attributed to the aging, shrinking population and low birthrate.

The job availability ratio for high school graduates in Japan, whom the ministry mainly recruits as cadets, has remained at high levels recently, increasing competition between the SDF and companies that are hoping to attract young people, a ministry official said.

The recruitment rate stood at 94 percent in fiscal 2021 but tumbled to 66 percent in fiscal 2022.

Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said at a press conference on Friday that the recruitment problem is likely to be ongoing for the SDF.

The committee will release a report related to the SDF personnel shortage in late August after holding several meetings. The ministry said it will request recruitment budgets for fiscal 2025 based on the report.

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@Jackie San