Japan hires AI specialists to ease labor shortages

Japanese corporations are hiring AI specialists to accelerate cautious automation while facing chronic labor shortages. A survey of roughly 250 publicly listed companies by Azusa Audit found 28% are expanding their AI-literate workforce even though overall adoption across the economy remains low.

Companies describe AI as a complement to human labor and are using it to improve efficiency rather than to drive large-scale job cuts.

International comparisons show Japan lags on adoption. The OECD reported 2025 AI adoption rates in Japan of 26.5% in finance and 14.5% in manufacturing, compared with seven-country averages of 60.4% and 44.1%, respectively. In the first quarter of 2026, roughly 92,000 tech jobs were cut worldwide, a pattern many Japanese firms have not followed.

At the government’s AI Forum in April, Akiko Murakami, director of the AI Safety Institute, urged companies to maintain human oversight in sensitive areas. “It would be ideal if humans could review all payment related decisions,” she said, and called for simplifying routine operations so human staff can focus on more complex work. Murakami warned that adopting technology without a clear corporate intent can lead to major failures in sectors such as insurance.

Consultants point to a second constraint: a lack of company-level AI strategy. Miku Hirano, CEO of Cinnamon AI, told Sushi Tech 2026 attendees that many firms treat AI adoption as a quick fix. “Japanese businesses come to us thinking if we adopt AI, everything is going to be OK,” Hirano said, adding that success requires reorganizing operations, workflows and key performance indicators.

Market forecasts and hiring signals underline rising demand for AI skills. Report Ocean projects Japan’s AI market to grow from roughly $20 billion today to about $538 billion by 2035, creating demand for AI consultants, data managers and governance specialists. A January 2026 Deloitte Tohmatsu Group survey found about half of 1,000 Japanese executives asked job candidates about hands-on AI experience, indicating a preference for practical skills.

Firms report faster update cycles for AI plans: annual reviews have moved to quarterly reviews, and software and models receive near-continuous maintenance. The government estimates a potential shortfall of about 3.4 million workers specialized in AI and robotics by 2040.

Company leaders are being asked to set tolerance levels for AI risk and to build governance capable of evaluating and verifying automated decisions. The current hiring push reflects efforts to build internal capacity to manage AI tools while addressing a tight labor market.