Elder care may spark shortage of workers

The Japanese Trade Union Confederation said Japan could face a labor shortage as an increasing number of employees mull quitting work to take care of elderly relatives, as Japan's graying population continues to skyrocket, local media reported on Wednesday.

With Japan in the grip of a demographic crisis as its population simultaneously shrinks and ages, meaning the core workforce is already being hollowed out, the confederation known locally as Rengo, said that their survey showed 27.9 percent of employees aged 40 or over who had taken care of elderly relatives in the past five years had thought about quitting.

More than 1.5 percent of the 8,200 workers surveyed at firms represented by the confederation's unions had actually quit, it said.