Xymax Real Estate Institute

TOPIC REPORTTo Solve the Labor Shortage Problem (Vol. 3)
The Actual State and Issues of Non-Desk Workers Who Support the
Operation of Office Buildings

March 29, 2024

Introduction—Breaking Down the Labor Shortage Problem
Based on concerns about the labor shortage problem, Xymax Real Estate Institute (“Xymax REI”) has beenreleasing a series of reports entitled “To Solve the Labor Shortage Problem” since May 2023. In Volume 1,
the 1st report, we categorized occupations into desk work and non-desk work and showed that non-desk
work was at the core of the labor shortage problem. In Volume 2, we estimated the future labor supplydemand gap using long-term time series data and found that there will be a shortage of 8.19 million nondesk workers (in a total of 41 occupations) by 2040.
Labor shortages are expected not only in certain occupations, such as construction, distribution, andhealth care, where issues such as the “2024 problem” are much discussed. It is almost certain that there
will be a shortage of non-desk workers in all the professions that support society, and it will be impossible
to maintain our current safe and comfortable lives unless something is done.
In this 3rd report, we focused on non-desk workers who support the operation of office buildings, where
desk workers spend the longest time after their homes and the main subject of Xymax REI’s research, inorder to delve into specific occupations to gain deeper insight into the shortage of non-desk workers. By
examining the people who work in office buildings, their jobs, and the structural factors that lead to labor
shortages, we hope to provide an opportunity to promote understanding and interest not only among
office users but also among office building owners and investors that this problem poses a serious threat
to business continuity.

Non-Desk Workers Who Support the Operation of Office
Buildings
For many companies, the office is a place of intellectual production and value creation; a comfortable
and safe office is a prerequisite for desk workers to focus and perform. Carpets without a speck of dust
when workers come to work in the morning, clean restrooms, elevators and air conditioners that are always
in perfect working order, and security areas where there is no danger of intruders entering—these work
environments that many desk workers take for granted are supported by non-desk workers in a variety ofoccupations. However, not many desk workers are usually aware of this.
There are four main types of non-desk jobs that support the operation of office buildings: cleaning,
security, facility management, and construction work.*1 In fact, these four occupations also face labor
shortages, as in the case of other non-desk workers. According to the aforementioned estimate, there will
be a shortage of 95,000 people in cleaning, 325,000 in security, 130,000 in facility management, and 26,000
in construction work by 2040.*2 Older people are already the main workforce in these occupations, and it
is likely that there will be competition for older workers in a wide range of occupations in Japan, where theyoung population is expected to continue declining, further intensifying competition for human resources.
*1 Another job related to office building construction work is construction management, but this was excluded from the analysis
since it has the characteristics of both desk and non-desk work.

TOPIC REPORT: To Solve the Labor Shortage Problem (Vol. 3)
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report may not be
reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2024 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

1

TOPIC REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute*2 Estimations were made for each occupation based on the Japan Standard Occupational Classification (Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications). The figure for cleaning is that for “cleaning workers,” for security “security workers,” for facility
management “residential facilities, office buildings and other management personnel,” and for construction work “electric
construction workers.”

Different jobs will mean that the types of workers and the situation and issues of labor shortages aredifferent, as are the actions to be taken and the goals to be pursued. To explore the direction of thesolutions to the labor shortage problem in the operation of office buildings, we outline the characteristicsof these four occupations and workers. As a premise, the job details of each occupation are as describedin Figure 1, and public data indicating employment status, etc., are as shown in Figure 2. These indicatethat while all jobs support the operation of office buildings, each job has significantly different aspects.
Figure 1: Job Details of Office Building Occupations
Cleaning

・Cleaning the building and collecting trash.
・In office buildings, the work is divided into cleaning
the tenants’ exclusive areas and cleaning thecommon areas (toilets, elevator halls, etc.).
・The work is often required to be completed before
the start of the tenant’s business hours (in themorning).

Security

・Standing guard near the entrance of the building toprevent, quickly detect, and respond to break-ins,
accidents, fires, and other events.
・There are two types: Being stationed in one large
building full-time and patrolling several smallerbuildings.
・Auxiliary tasks may be required, such as registering
visitors entering and exiting the building and responding to inquiries.

Facility
management

・Operating, adjusting, and managing electric power
facilities, air conditioning facilities, water supply anddrainage facilities, etc.
・There are two types: Being stationed in one large
building full-time and patrolling several smallerbuildings.
・Some jobs require interpersonal communication,such as responding to tenants and supervising work at the sites.

TOPIC REPORT: To Solve the Labor Shortage Problem (Vol. 3)
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report may not be
reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2024 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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TOPIC REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteConstruction
work

・Finishing the interior of a building, such as floors,ceilings, and walls. In office buildings, the workoften involves restoration work when tenants movein or out (interior worker).
・Wiring electric cables and installing equipment touse electricity (electrician).
・Fitting water supply pipes, drainage pipes, gas
pipes, air conditioning and ventilation equipment, fire extinguishing equipment,
wastewater treatment facilities, and air purification equipment (plumber).

Figure 2: Public Data of the Occupations

Looking at the jobs-to-applicants ratio on the right side of Figure 2, it is difficult to sense a shortage of
non-desk workers in office buildings since, although the ratio for security and construction work is higher
than the average for all occupations (1.28), the ratio for cleaning and facility management is not particularlyhigh. However, an interview survey of companies and associations conducted by Xymax REI between
November 2023 and February 2024 found that all four occupations are experiencing chronic labor
shortages.

State of Labor Shortage Based on Voices from Work Sites
From here, we summarize the characteristics of the workers and the state, background, and factors forthe labor shortage of each of the four occupations and consider the possible directions for resolving thelabor shortage based on the current situation. Furthermore, as a reference material that captures theobjective characteristics of jobs, we add a radar chart of the “nature of the job” score*3 independently
calculated based on data from job tag (Japanese O-NET), an occupational information website of the
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
*3 The deviation scores of all 494 occupations, including desk jobs, with a figure higher than 50 indicating thatthe characteristic is more prominent compared to the average of all occupations. See the end of the reportfor the sources and calculation methods of the figures.

TOPIC REPORT: To Solve the Labor Shortage Problem (Vol. 3)
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report may not be
reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2024 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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TOPIC REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteCleaning
Current main
workforce

・Women (housewives) in their 60s and 70s※Population change between 2020 and 2040: -2.6% (-430,000)
・Foreigners

Requiredexpertise

Low (Qualification as a building cleaning technician is an advantage, but notrequired.)State of labor shortage[Now: Very severe ⇒ Future: Very severe]

Of the four occupations, this has the tightest labor supply. Retention rates are low, as the majority of theworkforce is non-regular workers, and the work does not require advanced skills, making it easy for theworkers to change companies and jobs, while it also makes it easy for them to take up the occupation.
Especially since the end of the COVID pandemic, older women, who make up the bulk of the workforce,are moving to retail and restaurant jobs in the suburbs, where the commute is easier, hampered by theoffice cleaning conditions of “downtown, early morning, short hours.”
Background and factors
Specification order × mainly microenterprises × multiple subcontracting: Inherently, high employment
liquidity should be a favorable factor that leads to better pay; however, the cleaning industry is prone toprice competition from microenterprises that win orders at low prices and low quality, since it is difficult todifferentiate services since orders are basically specification orders from property owners, and there is no
system for evaluating suppliers. Another factor in intensified price competition is that multiple
subcontracting has become the norm. Due to this structure, cleaning has become not only a low-wage job
but also a job that is the same no matter who does it, i.e., a job with low psychological rewards.
Mainly non-regular employment: While the occupation, with its short hours, meets the needs of housewives,
the main workforce, it is not very appealing to people looking for full-time, stable employment. As the
majority of the workers are in non-regular employment, the retention rate is low, resulting in higher
recruitment, training, and labor management costs. In particular, foreigners (the second main category ofworkers after housewives) have a network of information within the community of their compatriots andare more likely to move to operators who pay more, even if only a little, per hour.
Decline in population of main workforce: Due tothe increase in dual income households, thenumber of dependent housewives, the current
main workforce, is decreasing, and it is also difficult
to hire existing housewives as they avoid working
long hours or being hired as regular employees
due to the annual income limit for tax benefits.
Greater disparity between buildings: There has
been an increase in disparity between buildings,
with large or high-spec buildings with waiting
rooms for cleaning staff able to secure labor, whilesmall/medium or multi-tenant buildings withunfavorable labor environments have greater

TOPIC REPORT: To Solve the Labor Shortage Problem (Vol. 3)
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report may not be
reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2024 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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TOPIC REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institutedifficulty in staffing. The job also involves working in places without air conditioning, such as outdoors,
resulting in a particularly high score of 68 for “uncomfortable working environment” in terms of the natureof the job, which is likely to be a key factor for people avoiding building cleaning jobs.
Directions for resolving labor shortages
Given that the number of workers who meet the office cleaning conditions of “downtown, early morning,short hours” will continue to decrease, it would be necessary to reconsider these conditions. Attempts are
already being made to carry out cleaning during the late night hours when workers who can work in theearly morning cannot be found. Now that telework and flex time programs have spread due to thepandemic, does it really meet the tenant’s needs to place specification orders based on the assumptionthat all of the tenant’s employees will come to the office at the same time? As times change at a greater
pace, this may be an opportunity to increase tenant satisfaction by reconsidering the assumption thatcleaning must be completed before the early morning start of business and meeting the real needs oftenants.
As for short-time work, while continuing to provide such work for dependent housewives who prefer
this condition, it may be effective to provide a form of employment that offers, for example, regular
employment by creating eight hours of work a day for them, as well as a pathway to pay increases andpromotions based on years of service, to people who are seeking stable jobs that will support theirlivelihoods, such as men who are providing for their wives and are seeking long-term jobs after retirement,or people of the generation when finding employment was extremely difficult who have had unstable jobs.

Security
Current main
workforce・Men from the age of 55 up to their 70s (Switching from other industries)※Population change between 2020 and 2040: -0.1% (-20,000)

Requiredexpertise

Low (Certification of security guard tests, etc. is an advantage, but not required.)State of labor shortage[Now: Somewhat severe ⇒ Future: Severe]

With low barriers to employment, many older men around retirement age have taken up the occupation,
but the labor supply has become tighter in recent years due to the competition for older workers.
Recruitment has become particularly difficult since the end of the COVID pandemic, as other industries,
such as retail and restaurants, have become more active in hiring.
There are also structural issues, such as susceptibility to price competition due to the inability todifferentiate because of the predominance of specification orders, and difficulty in raising prices due to thelarge number of microenterprises resulting from low barriers to entry. In preparation for the population
decline, large security companies have been mechanizing their services (introducing/developing security
robots and drones) and are likely to reduce the number of personnel required in the future.
Background and factors
Mainly non-regular employment: Since there is often no path to career development or pay increases, theoccupation is not usually chosen as a lifelong career. In particular, it has not appealed to the younger
generation under 50s.

TOPIC REPORT: To Solve the Labor Shortage Problem (Vol. 3)
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report may not be
reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2024 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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TOPIC REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteIntensified competition for older men: Competition from other occupations for older men aroundretirement age, the main workforce for the job, has intensified due to their scarcity owing to the extensionof the retirement age, etc.
Physical burden and risk of danger: While there is a certain number of people who prefer facility security
jobs, which offer regularity of place and time and do not require interpersonal communication skills, it islikely that the heavy physical demands of standing for long periods of time and the need to perform
auxiliary tasks, such as responding to visitors, for free, depending on the employer company, have led
workers to avoid the occupation. Because the job also involves unpredictable risks, such as responding to
intruders, people have a perception that the risks are disproportionate to the pay. In terms of the natureof the job, the “level of physical danger” score isparticularly high at 59.
Low level of comfort in work environment: The“uncomfortable working environment” score isespecially high at 60, since even when working in
an office building, workers standing guard near theentrance or outside are exposed to severe summer
heat and winter cold. Another issue is that, due tothe conservative culture of the industry, many
service providers have a low awareness of caring
for their workers and pay little attention to the
comfort of waiting rooms and nap rooms used for
24-hour shifts.
Directions for resolving labor shortages
Facility security jobs, which offer regularity of place and time and the ability to work for long hours, areaccepted by older men who want to use their free time after retirement to earn a good income.
Highlighting these characteristics would be effective in continuing to attract older men. Meanwhile, it isnecessary to broaden the human resource base to prepare for future population decline, and the security
industry is currently seeking to hire women. Women make up only 6.8%*4 of the security workforce. Thereis room to attract women to facility security by improving the comfort of the work environment, such as
waiting rooms and restrooms and reviewing the employment style based on long working hours.
Furthermore, the introduction of security robots and remote security with surveillance cameras will
enable the security industry to improve productivity while reducing the physical strain on security guards
and the risk of exposure to danger. Remote security, the evidence of results of which is easy to prove, will
also lead to a departure from specification orders. If the industry can create a virtuous cycle that makes theoccupation a safe, comfortable and well-paying one, it may be able to appeal to the younger generation.
*4 Source: 2022 Security Industry Overview, National Police Agency

Facility management
Current main
workforce・Men in their 50s and 60s (Switching from other industries)※Population change between 2020 and 2040: -2.6% (-410,000)

TOPIC REPORT: To Solve the Labor Shortage Problem (Vol. 3)
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report may not be
reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2024 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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TOPIC REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteRequiredexpertise

Medium to high (There are many related qualifications, such as licensed electricalengineers, building environment and sanitation management technicians, andbuilding facility management technicians. Qualifications are desirable.)State of labor shortage[Now: Not that severe ⇒ Future: Severe]

The barriers to employment are relatively high, as the occupation requires expertise in facilities, as wellas the ability to communicate with related parties (property owners and tenants, specialist vendors, etc.),
and administrative skills. Facility management jobs have historically been a source of employment for older
men retiring from desk jobs, but hiring personnel is gradually becoming difficult as the working population
shrinks and the retirement age increases.
Partly because of the time it takes to train workers, younger people are needed to sustain the industry(especially for candidates for management positions such as field managers). However, even large building
maintenance companies are struggling to hire people in their 30s or younger. Although some operations
have been mechanized, it is difficult to make tasks such as troubleshooting completely unmanned, whichraises concerns about future labor shortages.
Background and factors
Low recognition: High income and career progression to management positions, etc. can be expected witha national qualification. However, there is a possibility that the occupation may not be considered an option
due to the low recognition of the occupation itself. Compared to cleaning and security jobs, it is difficultfor people to imagine the specific work of the occupation as a career change destination after retirement.
Appeal power compared to rival occupations: The occupation is likely to be affected by competition froma more attractive occupation in terms of impression and pay, such as development jobs in manufacturing,which seek the same technical talent.
Low level of comfort in working environment: Although the work is basically done indoors, theenvironmental stress is great since some of thework involves working in cramped positions inplaces without air conditioning, such as inside
ceilings and underground equipment rooms.
Furthermore, although daily inspection jobs haveregular hours, construction or unexpected work,
such as responding to breakdowns, can be stressful.
Requires interpersonal skills: As evidenced by the“amount of communication” score of 61 in thenature of the job, the occupation requires
communication and negotiation skills in calling out,
communicating, and reporting to ensure safety andprevent trouble, as well as coordinating with
relevant parties. Depending on the work site, it will
be necessary to build relationships with security guards and cleaning staff dispatched from othercompanies, which could be a barrier to employment for some people.

TOPIC REPORT: To Solve the Labor Shortage Problem (Vol. 3)
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report may not be
reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2024 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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TOPIC REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
Directions for resolving labor shortages
The low recognition of the occupation and the difficulty of imagining the specific work must be a sourceof concern not only for young people fresh out of school but also for the main workforce, i.e., those whohave changed careers from different industries. Therefore, it will be necessary to work on increasing therecognition and attractiveness of the occupation. The first step to solving the labor shortage would be to
publicize the advantage of facility management jobs, which is that people can work for a lifetime while
growing their expertise and developing their careers.
At the same time, the high level of skills required has limited employment opportunities in some ways;
therefore, it may be effective to divide the work into tasks that require qualifications and those that do notand hire people separately. Along with mechanization, the efficient appointing of human resources bysegmenting and grouping tasks that can only be performed by humans according to their level of difficulty
and the establishment of training systems that enable workers in menial jobs to acquire skills over the longterm will also enable the industry to prepare for the future.

Construction work
Current main
workforce

Requiredexpertise・Men in their 50s to 70s (Mainly those with experience from the constructionindustry, etc.)※Population change between 2020 and 2040: -4.5% (-1.05 million)
・Foreigners
High (Qualification as a paper-hanging technician, etc. is an advantage, but notrequired.)State of labor shortage[Now: Very severe ⇒ Future: Very severe]

Workers are hard to find in some work sites since the work is mostly contracted out by sole proprietors(individual contractors), and it is a seller’s market. The labor situation is expected to worsen in the future
due to the aging of the workforce. The industry is already unable to exist without foreigners (technicalinterns), but there are also jobs that can only be done by experienced Japanese craftsmen. Aside from that,
depending on the future of the Japanese economy and the relative wage differences between Japan andabroad, it is uncertain whether Japan can continue to be an attractive country for foreigners to work in.
Background and factors
Income instability: Since sole proprietors work on a piecework system and their pay varies from contract
to contract, their income is unstable and, on average, may be low relative to the workload. Although not
to the extent of outdoor construction work (civil engineering, building, etc.), which is affected by theweather, interior workers are also subject to workload gaps as work is generated by tenant relocation. This
has led to instability in employment and income. In addition, the custom of contract workers providing
their own supplies for the work (nails, putty, etc.) is still prevalent in some areas, adding to the burden on
their livelihoods.
Lack of training systems and dependency on individuals: The industry lacks a culture of training
inexperienced people due to the lack of organized training systems owing to the remaining old-fashioned
craftsmanship and the large number of sole proprietors. Even when workers belong to an organization,
work is concentrated on people with skills, and such people are prone to overwork as they have difficulty

TOPIC REPORT: To Solve the Labor Shortage Problem (Vol. 3)
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report may not be
reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2024 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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TOPIC REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institutetaking time off.
Low level of comfort in working environment:
Since construction work in office buildings iscarried out on weekends or before the building iscompleted, air conditioning is not in operation,and the severity of working in extreme heat has
increased in recent years. Although the level ofphysical hazard is lower than in outdoor
construction, there are still risks of injury andhealth hazards from working in dusty conditions inindoor construction. The age-old perception that
construction work in general is “hard, dirty, anddangerous” persists.
Directions for resolving labor shortages
To ensure the sustainability of the industry, it is necessary to move away from the current dependency
on older, experienced workers, to attract the younger generation, and to develop a system of training themover the long term. The younger generation in the seller’s market will inevitably avoid jobs that arephysically demanding; therefore, it will be critical to start by improving the work environment to eliminate
the negative perception of the job. Compared to other types of construction work, such as civil engineeringand building construction, work in office buildings is more advantageous in terms of stability and safety.
Of course, some aspects are difficult to improve, such as the inability to work under air conditioning, but
the industry must work to offer wages that compensate for such disadvantages or career plans that allow
workers to be promoted if they work long enough and foster values that take care of workers.
In addition, since the large number of individual contractors has led to unstable incomes, overwork, andlack of training systems, it would also be effective to employ workers and create company organizations.
Organizing efforts are already spreading and are being embraced by the younger generation, who value
stability and work-life balance. Organizing companies will also enable a teamwork system, as in facility
management, where tasks are segmented, and a worker only performs tasks he/she is good at. This could
be an immediately effective measure against labor shortage. The segmentation of tasks will not be suitable
for manual work, but it could be the trump card to encourage people who have not been targeted to enter
the industry, such as women who are good at delicate work.

TOPIC REPORT: To Solve the Labor Shortage Problem (Vol. 3)
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report may not be
reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2024 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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TOPIC REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

Summary
If the labor shortage problem in office buildings remains unaddressed and worsens, building owners andinvestors will face various business difficulties. Not only will they experience an increase in costs, including
management costs and repair costs, but they will also face delays in construction work when tenants movein or out or be forced to reduce the quality of services or simplify them, all of which will be directly
detrimental to tenants. Going forward, the competitiveness gap between buildings that address labor
shortages and those that do not is likely to widen, making the winners and losers even more pronounced
than they are now.
Important measures will be to create attractive jobs and workplaces that are in line with the values andlifestyles of the workers, thereby 1) increasing the satisfaction of those currently working in order to reduceturnover and 2) encouraging the entry of those not previously targeted (labor transition). Since theworkforce in the four occupations is already aging, the success of 2) will be key.
To encourage new types of workers to enter the industry, it will be necessary to change the nature of thework and the style of employment so that it suits and is accepted by a wider range of people than iscurrently the case. Since occupations and attributes used to be fixed (e.g., “cleaning lady,” “security man”),
jobs and employment were defined by assuming a fixed persona. However, the issues of each occupation
examined in Chapter 2 have shown that diversification of employment patterns and segmentation of tasks
are likely to be the key points in general. If diverse employment options such as “high-level work vs. menial
work,” “full-time vs. part-time,” and “career-oriented vs. personal life-oriented” can be provided to meetworkers’ individuality and diverse needs, the source of human resources may be expanded, and the jobs
may become an option for people who have chosen other occupations in the past.
Of course, improving wages and the work environment in line with the socio-economic situation is aprerequisite for encouraging current workers to work longer and attracting new people. To achieve this, allparties involved in the office property business must understand the current critical situation and recognizethat the wisdom of the past is becoming obsolete. Precisely because it is an old industry, the first step insolving the labor shortage problem will be to break away from convention and think from the perspectiveof the worker.

TOPIC REPORT: To Solve the Labor Shortage Problem (Vol. 3)
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report may not be
reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2024 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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TOPIC REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
Overview of Chapter 2 “Nature of the Job (Radar Chart)”
Source: Prepared by Xymax REI by processing the “Occupational Information Database, Simplified
Numerical Download Data ver. 1.8” by The Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training (JILPT)
downloaded on March 31, 2023, from occupational information site job tag (Japanese O-NET)(https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download). The original data include the scores for the 39 items that
describe the “nature of the job” for all 494 occupations based on the online worker survey (60 workers
from each occupation; approx. 26,000 valid answers) conducted by JILPT in 2018 and 2019.
Score calculation method: Calculated by the following procedures incorporating the calculation methods
of JILPT (2012) and Acemoglu and Autor (2011). [Procedure 1] Using the k-means method, the 39 items of“05 Nature of the job” of the numerical profile area data of Japanese O-NET were clustered and categorized
into the following six categories: (1) Work irregularity (e.g., No routine work, cancellation due to weather,seasonality); (2) negative impact on mental and physical health (cramped, risk of disease); (3) level ofphysical danger (burns, cuts, violence); (4) amount of communication (face-to-face, telephone, team); (5)uncomfortable working environment (outdoor, standing, running); and (6) level of responsibility (mistakes,
strict, consequences, decision-making). [Procedure 2] Performed a simple sum of the numerical data foreach of the 494 occupation types and six categories. [Procedure 3] The sums were scaled to have a meanof 50 and a standard deviation of 10, and the deviation of the occupation was used as the score.

Reference Literature
Acemoglu, D., & Autor, D. (2011). Skills, tasks and technologies: Implications for employment and earnings.
In Handbook of labor economics (Vol. 4, pp. 1043-1171). Elsevier.
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Occupational information site job tag (Japanese O-NET).
https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User (accessed on 2024.3.14)
Xymax Real Estate Institute. (2023). To Solve the Labor Shortage Problem (Vol. 1)
The Actual State and Issues of Non-Desk Workers
https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20230531.pdf
Xymax Real Estate Institute. (2023). To Solve the Labor Shortage Problem (Vol. 2)
How Much of a Shortage Will There Be for Non-Desk Workers?
https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20231201.pdf

For further inquiries please contact below:
Xymax Real Estate Institutehttps://soken.xymax.co.jp | E-MAIL: info-rei@xymax.co.jp

TOPIC REPORT: To Solve the Labor Shortage Problem (Vol. 3)
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. This report may not be
reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2024 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

11