It’s March 2024 and the western world labor shortage continues to climb unabated. We wrote about dire consequences hitting the airlines in Labor Shortage Consequences: Aviation but the problems aren’t contained to the U.S.
From VisaGuideNews:
Japan’s government is planning to allow over 800,000 foreign workers with specific skills to come to the country over the next five years, starting in 2024.
This move aims to tackle the shortage of workers in industries such as manufacturing, construction, and agriculture. The plan is also to increase the number of skilled worker visas to more than double the current amount during this period, VisaGuide.World reports.
source: VisaGuideNews.com
Further west of Japan, Russia is contemplating hiring Africans for it’s growing labor shortages. From Cepa.org:
Towards the end of last year, experts from the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences estimated that Russia faced a shortfall of nearly 5 million workers in 2023, which is already impeding economic growth. The total workforce is a little under 74 million.
To tackle the staffing shortfall, Russia has embarked on a significant recruitment drive for doctors from African countries, often targeting those whom Soviet specialists once assisted during healthcare crises.
source: Cepa.org
And continuing on to Spain, we read that Spain wants to hire 26,000 Moroccan truck drivers to help fill labor shortages in Spain. From MoroccoWorldNews.com:
According to reports from the Spanish news outlet ABC, the sector is preparing to onboard as many as 26,000 Moroccan professional drivers, signaling a significant shift in recruitment strategies within the industry.
Spain’s agricultural sector has traditionally relied on Moroccan seasonal workers during harvest seasons, with numbers typically not exceeding 18,000. However, this new initiative marks a departure from seasonal hiring practices, with the potential for longer-term employment opportunities.
source: MoroccowWorldNews.com
These are all but samples of western countries escalating their scramble to find labor from anywhere to help fill the labor void due to aging demographics. The obvious question to ask is who will attract the best talent and at what cost?
The prudent investor question that arises is how can we profit from all of this labor shortage? We continue to search for ways to do that and it’s not lost on us to examine the full labor ecosystem to find the answer so stay tuned, stay profitable and stay solvent…