TOKYO - As Japan’s construction firms are squeezed by the tightest labor market since the 1970s and a rapidly ageing population, they are pouring investment into technology - and providing unexpected support to an economy reeling from the bitter U.S.-China trade war.
Construction company Shimizu Corp , which spent about 3 billion yen for robots over three years, is a case in point. “When it’s hot, workers need to take breaks and drink water. Robots don’t need that as they don’t get tired, so that’s good,” he said. “Once the robots become smarter, we are looking to increase the range of work.”Construction work has blossomed in Japan under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics” stimulus and an infrastructure boom ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Year-on-year, total capital expenditure in Japan rose for the 10th straight quarter in the April-June period, helping gross domestic product expand an annualized 1.3%. There were 5.1 million construction workers in Japan as of end-August, a 27% decline from 20 years ago.