Q118 Japan's birthrate has been falling for some time, so finding the young people to fill the gaps left by retiring baby-boomers will be difficult, won't it?
A118 That's right. According to the results of the Basic Survey on Human Resource Development, published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in June 2006, of the 1,545 companies with more than 30 employees surveyed, 33.7% acknowledged a sense of crisis regarding the 2007 Problem. This was higher than the previous year's rate of 22.4%. The electricity/gas heating
supply and the water service industries had by far the greatest con-cern, with a significant 60.2%, while other sectors with high levels of concern include the manufacruring (41.1 o/o) and construction (41.0%) industries. In contrast, sectors with limited concern are the medical/welfare (13.0%) and the telecommunications (13.5%) industries.
