> Japan’s chronic labour shortage – a symptom of its low birthrate – has also made employers more determined to retain staff, even if it means intimidating them

> Japan’s chronic labour shortage – a symptom of its low birthrate – has also made employers more determined to retain staff, even if it means intimidating them into staying. Some force workers to find their own replacements before accepting their resignations or rip up their resignation letters in front of them. You'd think that in a market economy a labor shortage would result in rises in wages and improvements in working conditions because labors hold more leverage in negotiations. And yet.