It seems 30% of Japanese companies are 'increasing staff to adopt AI,' but why is this out of sync with global trends?

It is not that they are out of sync; it is simply that 'the conditions they are in are different, so the way they use AI is the opposite.'

Overseas, it is
AI for cost reduction

In Japan, it is
AI to fill labor shortages

This difference in premises leads to the opposite results of 'staff reduction' and 'staff increase.'

The primary cause: It is a country with a labor shortage

Japan is in a state of

• declining birthrate and aging population

• chronic labor shortages

Because of this, companies are not in a situation of reducing staff, but rather there are no people to begin with. As a result,

AI adoption
↓
people are also needed to keep operations running
↓
supplemented by AI + people

This is the form it takes.

The decisive difference from overseas

Overseas (especially the U.S.)

• has surplus personnel

• layoffs are relatively easy

• job roles are clearly defined

→ easy to replace with AI
→ directly leads to reduction

Japan

• is short on people

• layoffs are difficult

• Ambiguous roles

→ Hard to replace
→ Additional personnel needed

The reality of 'staff increases'

This is a point that is easily misunderstood. Even if we say staff is increasing, it is not mass hiring, but rather

• reassignment of existing employees

• establishment of new AI departments

• utilization of external vendors

• hiring of some specialized talent

combined. In other words, the total number of employees in the company is not necessarily increasing significantly

Why does AI lead to an increase in people?

There are three reasons.

1 High implementation costs

AI is not finished once it is installed; it requires

• data preparation

• operational design

• monitoring

• improvement

Therefore, initially, the number of people actually increases

2 Not cutting back on tasks

Overseas, they cut the work itself, but in Japan, there is a tendency to add AI while leaving existing tasks in place. As a result, work is duplicated.

3 AI talent is in short supply

To use AI,

• people who can design it

• people who can operate it

are necessary, but these are in short supply. Therefore, they compensate with

• outsourcing

• concurrent roles

• limited hiring

andthe number of people involved increases

The essence

To summarize, it is like this.

Overseas
→ Designing to 'reduce staff' with AI

Japan
→ Designing to 'fill the gaps' with AI

This difference is everything.

Summary

It is not that 'only Japan is strange,' but because

• labor shortages

• employment systems

• adoption stages

are different, the same AI is used as an 'auxiliary device' rather than a 'reduction device.' This is the reason it looks like an 'increase in personnel'.

It is half correct and half incorrect. To be more precise,

reassignment is the main approach, but it is not enough on its own, and actual staff increases are occurring in some areas

is the current situation.

Breakdown of the reality

What is referred to as 'staff increase' is a mix of the following three things.

1. Reassignment (most common)

Existing employees are moved to

• AI roles

• data roles

• automation roles

. This is not a pure increase in headcount. However, because

the number of people involved in AI increases

, it is counted as a 'staff increase'.

2. Concurrent roles

While continuing their original duties

• AI adoption

• operations

• improvement

are also assigned to them. In other words, the workload is just increasing, but this is also treated as 'organizational strengthening'.

(3) Limited staff increases

This is important. Some companies actually

• AI engineers

• data talent

• security talent

and others are hired on a pinpoint basis. In short, in some areas, staff is truly increasing.

Why can't it be solved by reassignment alone?

The reason is simple. AI adoption increases 'new work'. For example,

• data preparation

• model management

• quality monitoring

• governance

are tasks that did not exist before. Therefore, managing with existing staff is not enough, and in some parts, it is inevitably necessary to increase staff.

A point easily misunderstood

This is important. When you hear 'staff increase,' you might think of

• mass hiring

• The number of people is increasing rapidly

That is the image, but the reality is different. In fact, it is a structure of

• reassignment as the base

• adding only the shortfall

.

Summary

As you pointed out, it is a fact that most of the staff increases can be explained by reassignment. However, that is not entirely the case; the actual structure is that they are only actually increasing staff in specialized areas where they are lacking.

That feeling is correct. The situation in Japan right now is not one where you can 'easily increase staff.' Therefore,

'Staff increase due to AI adoption' does not mean they are hiring smoothly

. The reality is actually the opposite; it is a state where they want to increase staff but cannot, so they are forcing a structure together.

Why is increasing staff difficult?

The reasons are clear.

• Labor shortage

• Intensifying wage competition

• Lack of immediate assets

AI talent, in particular,

• is scarce in terms of experience

• takes time to develop

and as a result, they rarely appear in the recruitment market—that is the reality.

So why is it said that there is an 'increase in personnel'?

This is the core of the misunderstanding. The 'increase in personnel' reported by companies sometimes includes the 'intent or necessity to increase' as well.

In other words, it means they are increasing the structure, not necessarily the actual number of people.

What is happening in practice

The reality on the ground is quite tough.

• Forcing existing employees to transfer

• Handling AI as a concurrent role

• Depending on external vendors

• Hiring only a few at high costs

In short, it is not an 'increase in staff' but a 'patchwork'.

The essence

To put it in one line:

Even though AI is being introduced because there is a shortage of people, more people are needed for that AI

This structure is the true source of the discomfort.

Summary

Japan today is

• It is not a situation where staff can be easily increased

• Yet, people are still needed for AI adoption

• The result is an unsustainable expansion of the organizational structure

This is the current state. Therefore, it is not as easy as the term 'increasing staff' suggests, and the reality is that operations are quite strained.

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