What is the reason for the attention in the business book Corona?

December 11, 19:17

Business books are selling due to the influence of the new Corona.

It seems that more and more people are spending more time on "learning" due to remote work and refraining from going out.

Now that the economic situation is severe, there may be many people who are looking back at themselves or honing their skills to improve their careers.

The use of summarization apps is also expanding to encourage more people to use business books.

I am enthusiastic about reading a lot of books during the New Year holidays.

I have covered the latest situation of the popularity of business books in Corona.

(Satomi Mogi, Reporter, Ministry of Economic Affairs)

Blow away the "publishing recession"?

The best-selling book of the past year, announced by NIPPAN GROUP, a major publication agency.

In the general category, books related to the popular manga "Kimetsu no Yaiba" occupy the top ranks and became a hot topic, but the good fight of business books was also shining.

The feature is that books on communication are ranked high.

The 1st place, "People speak 90%," introduces the way people like to speak.

This book also ranked 12th in the overall ranking including literary books.

In addition, the 3rd place "Book of" Delicate "" is also about communication.

A message is spelled out to "a very sensitive person" who is swayed by the way others speak and behave.

NIPPAN analyzes that "the spread of telework and the reduction of opportunities for direct contact with people have led to the reading of books on how to talk and communicate with people."

Over-the-counter sales of business books as a whole are also growing in the wake of the corona.

In April, when a state of emergency was declared, bookstores were closed, resulting in a 10% drop from the same month of the previous year, but it has recovered rapidly since May.

August is + 9.7%, September is + 10.9%, and October is + 14.5%, showing double-digit growth every month.

Non-contact browsing

Attempts to get business books more easily are spreading.

I interviewed a bookstore in Kawasaki City.

You can read a summary version of a specific book by scanning the QR code in the business book section of the store with your smartphone.

While some people are wary of the new Corona and refrain from picking up books that are touched by an unspecified number of people, this is a campaign that encourages "untouched browsing" to expand sales.

NIPPAN has been operating at 300 bookstores nationwide since October.

Mr. Kato

"In addition to the point of preventing infection, I feel that the great merit of this service is that you can deepen your understanding of the contents just by reading the summary version of the book that you were interested in on the cover and obi. I would like to consider continuing to develop it in the future. "

Increased demand for summarization services

"Untouched browsing" is a free campaign, but the business book summarization service that makes this possible is also provided by the app, and its use is increasing due to the corona virus.

The IT venture "Flyer" in Tokyo was developed.

CEO Yasushi Oga, who loves reading a lot, started his business seven years ago with the desire to touch as many books as possible.

Usually, a dedicated app provides contractors with a summary of business books for a fee.

The standard number of characters per book is 4000, which can be read in about 10 minutes.

Experts in related fields select the target book, and employees who have experience editing books are in charge of summarizing work.

We provide one new book every day, and we have provided more than 2000 business books so far.

Corporate members of the app are particularly growing in the corona virus.

Many of the companies that started teleworking in a hurry due to the spread of the new corona infection were wondering how to develop human resources remotely.

In particular, new employees who joined the company in April are said to have received more inquiries from companies that cannot carry out group training, which was the norm until now.

It seems that it matches the needs of deepening business knowledge by touching various business books with the app while spending time at home.

CEO Oga

"I think that the number of inquiries from companies has tripled in response to Corona. Even in such an environment, companies want to provide employees with an opportunity to learn every day, and as an employee, I think that by touching business books, you can improve your personal skills in response to such concerns as how you can contribute to the company's business performance and how you should show your skills. "

Expect new findings

Mizuho Financial Group, a major financial company, introduced this service for employee training from June.

The person in charge of human resource development talks about the aim of the introduction.

Investigator Kataoka

"The spread of infection has made it impossible to carry out group training that we have been conducting until now. However, as a human resource, we cannot stop the learning of employees, and business as an opportunity for learning that does not depend on training I chose the book. I hope that by making effective use of time, inputting knowledge, and getting in touch with fields that I haven't touched on before, new awareness and ideas will be born. "

The banking industry is under pressure to break away from the traditional banking business of earning money from loan margins as ultra-low interest rates continue.

While searching for a new business model, he wants each employee to acquire new ideas by expanding their knowledge in various fields through business books.

By using this service, the department in charge can grasp the areas of interest of employees such as what kind of related books are being read, and can utilize it for future human resource development menu development.

There are several other book summarization services, such as "Serendip" developed by the information service company "Information Factory".

The market seems to be expanding against the background of the needs of business people who want to efficiently obtain new ideas and use them for learning.

The autumn of reading has passed

I think that there are many people who have changed their working styles and lifestyles with the new coronavirus.

You may be worried about spending more time at home.

I think there are cases where companies are also confused.

However, it may be a waste to just stop there.

"Autumn of reading" has passed, but now that we have a lot of time, it might be a good idea to pick up a book in any format, such as paper, smartphones, and tablets.

Satomi Mogi, a

reporter for the Ministry of Economic Affairs

, joined NHK after working as an editor for a free paper.

After working at Saitama Bureau and Morioka Bureau, from 2017, Ministry of Economic Affairs