Hello, everyone.
This is Enta.
I went to get a haircut the other day. (Every month, lol.)
The barbershop I always go to is an old-school place run by just one guy, but,
While I was getting my hair cut and chatting about this and that, the conversation ended up overlapping a lot with the construction industry, lol.
"In a few decades or so, barbers will probably be a thing of the past."
He just mutters that under his breath, lol.
The number of barbers is really plummeting.
This wasn't just a matter of perception—the numbers actually backed it up.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s Report on Public Health Administration (Reiwa 6),
Barber shops across the country are107,995 homes...down by 2,302 units (▲2.1%) from the previous year, finally reaching 100,000 units...
At its peak in Showa 50 (the year we were born)140,000 unitsAlthough it had remained stable, it has continued to decline since 2003, falling from 110,000 units to 100,000 units in the last six years alone.
The number of barbers has also continued to decline, standing at 227,000 as of 2015. In 2003, there were 250,000, soA decrease of approximately 101 TP3T over 12 years
(Source: Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare materials—“Current Status and Trends in the Barber Licensing System”)
It's related to the construction industry.
What's more, the number of new license holders is plummeting year by year, and there are no successors coming up through the ranks.
So, my dad says,
"It's not like the whole industry is taking any measures, and young people aren't joining. The numbers are just going to keep dropping."
……Isn't that exactly what our industry is like?
The construction industry follows the same pattern
Have you heard about the number of licensed construction companies?
According to an announcement by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (as of the end of March Reiwa 7), the current number of licensed construction companies is483,700 businesses. At first glance, it seems like a lot, but at its peak in Heisei 12 (2000),600,980 businessesThat was it.
In other words, from the peak...Approximately 117,000 businesses (▲19.51 TP3T)It's decreasing.
Some of you might be thinking, “Haven’t they been increasing again lately?” but the rise over the past few years is simply due to a temporary lull in business closures—it doesn’t mean there’s been an increase in new entrants.
Structurally, the process is exactly the same as in the barbering industry.
As for the number of workers, the construction industry workforce has declined from a peak of 6.85 million in Heisei 9 to, in Reiwa 6,4.77 million peopleIt's dropped that low (as I mentioned in my previous post)
That's a decrease of about 301 TP3T.
If we narrow it down to slope construction, the numbers will be even more厳しい—I’m sure everyone here has a gut feeling about that from their on-site experience.
Even if the industry survives, there won’t be anyone left to work in it.
Issues in the Barbering Industry
・There are many older business owners, and few new entrants
・There is no system in place across the industry to train successors
・Most shops are independently owned (approximately 92% of barbershops are run by sole proprietors), making it difficult to share information
・Even the people doing it just shrug it off with a “Well, what can you do?”
Don't you think the construction industry has exactly the same structure?
According to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, construction workers aged 60 and older account for approximately25.8%account for [...], and the majority of them are expected to retire in 10 years.
On the other hand, those aged 29 and under account for about12%That's the only one!!!
Income is low, and expenses are high. It's simple subtraction.
The decline in the number of barbers and the decline in the number of slope maintenance workers aren't entirely separate issues, and
"The industry will continue to exist in name, but there will be no one left to carry it on."It's exactly the same problem, isn't it?
Sometimes you come across companies where there’s no one in their huge office, right!? ...
Even companies that used to be bustling...
It's kind of lonely, isn't it? :;
Construction business licenses—I wonder if they’ll be consolidated or phased out eventually.
While getting a haircut, this thought suddenly crossed my mind.
"Will the number of construction business license categories be reduced eventually?"
Currently, construction business licenses are divided into 29 categories.
So, if the number of businesses continues to decline, there will be industries where there are virtually no companies with the necessary licenses.
Apparently, there are only 2,261 “well-drilling contractors” left nationwide lol (Well, our company is one of them, though lol).
If that happens, the idea of “handling everything under a single civil engineering contract” might start to seem more realistic, don’t you think?
"General civil engineering work" is defined as "construction work carried out under comprehensive planning, supervision, and coordination," and
A license that typically authorizes the holder to act as a general contractor and coordinate multiple specialized construction projects.
Still, if the absolute number of licensed businesses continues to decline, I suppose it’s only natural that such discussions would arise.
It’s the same in the barbering industry—as the number of barber shops keeps dropping, there’s a growing sentiment that says, “Why not just merge them with beauty salons?”
In fact, I hear there are now 381 facilities that offer both barbering and beauty services, and that number keeps setting new records... (This reflects the trend toward industry consolidation.) It’s all about M&A, isn’t it?
If we don't start taking measures "right now," it'll be too late (or is it already too late?).
The guy at the barbershop said this.
"It's not like the industry as a whole is doing anything about it; it'll just naturally go down on its own."
I've totally given up lol
That's the real sentiment on the ground, isn't it?
With my busy schedule, I can’t shoulder the problems facing the entire industry all by myself, and even if I wanted to take action, I don’t know what to do. That’s the honest truth.
The same goes for the construction industry: if you assume that “someone else will take care of it,” you’ll suddenly find yourself in a situation where you have work but no workers.
We just have to start with what we can do on our own.
Will the industry disappear? Or will it merge with another? I’m not sure, but,
"Whether there will be anyone left who can work in that industry"Well, that will depend on what we do from here on out, won't it?
See you later.
