$20,000 annual pay: Japan's weak yen drives away Asian talent
$20,000 annual pay: Japan's weak yen drives away Asian talent
Companies face trouble recruiting students from China, Taiwan and South Korea
Takeshi Fukumoto, from Nara prefecture, obtained a working holiday visa in November and moved to Toronto, where he works at a restaurant kitchen.
He makes 22 Canadian dollars ($16) an hour and averages 40 hours a week. "Despite my short hours, I earn a lot," he said. "Including tips, my monthly income is over 400,000 yen."
He said he keeps living costs down by cooking for himself and has saved more than 1 million yen.
weak yen
looks
They're not joking.
https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/JPYUSD/
In the past 12 years, it looks like the yen has lost half its value in dollar terms.
I wonder what's driving that?
kagis
Ah.
The yen has long been under pressure as the Bank of Japan kept interest rates remarkably low to encourage more inflation in its economy. Only last month did it end its policy to keep its benchmark interest rate below zero.
I went to Japan earlier this year.
On one end, I was extremely amazed at how far my money went.
On the other end, watching shitty tourists treat Japan like a playground was disheartening.
Love that you Kagi'd the answer!
Shit must be really bad in japan if this dude is doing OK making just over minimum wage, in the highest (or second highest) cost of living cities in canada....
Also if he calls over 40 hours a week short hours…
That made my eyebrows want to climb above my face.
I mean, compared to the sterotypical salaryman hours, it is short
I once looked at a job listing for something with very specialist technical knowledge in specific programming areas, for a Japanese company based in Tokyo (pre-covid so remote wasn't really a thing yet). Pretty niche stuff and needed at least basic Japanese language skills too, so I assumed it would pay ok - even if it wasn't good or great in comparison with jobs where i was.
After conversion it worked out to be around USD$40k a year, which is probably just over 1/3 of what it would pay at minimum elsewhere. More like 1/4 or less for Silicon Valley type locations, but the rent for a tiny Tokyo shoebox is about the same price even if food is a cheaper. There was no way I was applying for that.
It isn't just about a weak yen, it's much more about hugely underpaying people.