It was found that the number of employees in charge of production at the shipbuilding company fell below 10,000, down to about one-ninth of the peak.

The shipbuilding industry once supported high economic growth, but securing human resources, mainly among the younger generation, has become an issue.

The Shipbuilders' Association of Japan summarizes the number of employees of member shipbuilding companies and released the latest data at the end of last month.



Of these, the number of employees called "skilled workers" who are in charge of welding, painting, and assembling ships was 9570 as of January, a decrease of 460 from the previous year.



This is the first time that the number of skilled workers has fallen below 10,000 since 1974, when statistics were first collected, and it is about one-ninth of the peak of 85,000 in 1975.



The Japanese shipbuilding industry, which supported the high economic growth, was once called "household art", but recently it has been pushed by Chinese and Korean manufacturers, and its share in the world market remains at the third place.



The shipbuilding industry is supporting the local economy, and the government is embarking on support such as supporting the development of ships that can cope with decarbonization in order to make a comeback, but in order to take over the technology, mainly the younger generation The challenge is to secure human resources.

Difficult to secure young human resources

Small and medium-sized shipbuilding companies are increasingly concerned that it is difficult to secure young human resources.



Sumitagawa Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a shipbuilding company located in Koto Ward, Tokyo, has about 70 skilled workers, including workers from partner companies, but 30% are in their 60s and 80s, and teens and 20s together. It is only 10%.

About 60% of the ships ordered are high-performance ships used by the Japan Coast Guard, and high technology is required. At the site, veterans in their 70s teach young people one-on-one welding and assembly techniques.



We are also embarking on hiring high school graduates because the younger generation is indispensable for continuing our business, but due to the influence of the new corona, the opportunity to publicize the company has decreased, so the hiring of high school graduates in spring is zero did.



Chairman Hiroshi Ishiwatari (84) said, "There is a sense of crisis that the Japanese shipbuilding industry will not last long unless we increase the number of young people. I am very worried that we will lose competition with the world and lead to decline." I was talking.

School education Aiming to increase the number of foreign skilled workers

Efforts to foster a younger generation involved in shipbuilding are also being considered.



One of them is school education.



There used to be "shipbuilding engineering" as one of the elective courses at technical high schools, but it was abolished at the end of 2002 because the number of students to choose was reduced.



However, from 2022, the country will revive it for the first time in 20 years under the name of "ship engineering" and will start training engineers.



The aim is to make the teaching materials more practical, such as incorporating the latest design methods using 3D, to attract the interest of the younger generation.



In addition, we are planning to increase the number of foreign skilled workers involved in shipbuilding by utilizing the "specific skill system" that accepts human resources from overseas.



The government is aiming to increase the amount of domestic ships built by 30% by 2025, but it seems that securing future leaders will be a big key to the revival.