Main challenge

Solving a labor shortage issue

To address labor shortage, we need to create a workplace where employees want to work. To achieve this, it is important for employees to be able to work in a stable manner regardless of the season, and to ensure that working hours are not extremely long. In this article, we will discuss how to use rapid freezers to increase employee retention rates.

We will also showcase the benefits of using rapid freezers to prevent labor shortage issues.

Why is there a labor shortage? Cause and background

What does "labor shortage" mean to a company?

Labor shortage refers to a situation where there is a shortage of suitable human resources for job openings. Companies are not able to gather the necessary human resources to carry out and streamline their operation.

Every year, an increasing number of companies in various industries are facing labor shortage issues.

The main causes of labor shortage are "declining birth rate/ aging population" and "lack of improvement of work efficiency."

Cause of labor shortage ① “Declining birthrate and aging population”

Japan is one of the countries where the birthrate is declining and the population is aging rapidly compared to the rest of the world. Japan's working age population (15 to 64 years old) peaked in 1995, and the total population peaked in 2008 and has been declining.

According to estimates by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, there will be a difference of 100:60 in the ratio of working age population between 2020 and 2065.

[Source] Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications 2020 White Paper on Aging Society (full version in Japanese)

Cause of labor shortage ② “Improving work efficiency”

On the other hand, operational efficiency also has an impact. If processes are not improved, there may be cases where even if there are a large number of staff, it will not be possible to keep up with the daily work load. By streamlining operations, you can reduce labor costs and alleviate labor shortage issues. If you feel that your company is short-staffed, why not consider whether your company can improve its efficiency before making a decision to hire more staff?

[Labor shortage] Issues often shared by customers

Below we have summarized the issues we often hear from our customers regarding labor shortages.

[Improvement of labor shortage ①] Planned product production

Planned products production

"Work style rehaul" with planned production
that leads to increases employee retention rate

If we use rapid freezing, we can provide products with almost the same quality even if they are more than a year old. Therefore, it is possible to systematically produce the amount needed at the end of the year over a period of one year. When it comes to osechi, the majority of vendors start making osechi from the beginning of the year toward the end of the year.

Starting planned production has many benefits, such as allowing employees to work stably throughout the year and improving employee retention rates, so in recent years more and more people are starting to use planned production in areas other than osechi.

[Improvement of labor shortage ②] Introduction of advance cooking

Introduction of pre-cooking

Pre-cooking improves labor shortages
Reduce labor costs and raw materials

Pre-cooking is a method in which the products to be served are prepared in advance and then heated and served when an order is placed. By pre-cooking, you can save time from the time an order is placed to the time it is served, and the operation can be carried out with fewer people.

rapid freezer is useful for pre-cooking. A wide range of items, from preparation to finished products, can be prepared and stored in bulk, making time efficient for the head chef and staff. You can also choose to cook and chill, which can be used depending on the menu.

[Improving labor shortage ③] Improving cooking efficiency

Streamline cooking

produced in the central kitchen
Operating a restaurant without a chef

By manufacturing products in bulk in a central kitchen, we can ensure uniform quality of the products we provide without increasing the number of cooks. You can run your store without hiring a chef, which is difficult to find.

By bulk manufacturing, it is also possible to reduce labor and material costs. This greatly reduces the amount of work required at the store, which improves the working environment and improves employee retention.

What is the impact of labor shortage on companies?

If a labor shortage continues for a long period of time, it can have a major negative impact on the company.

The main disadvantages caused by labor shortages are as follows:

• The working environment becomes worse
• Decreased employee satisfaction and motivation
• Increased turnover rate

If labor shortage continues, the burden on current employees will naturally increase. As a result, the working environment (overtime work, etc.) deteriorates, motivation decreases, and the number of employees leaving their jobs increases, resulting in a negative chain reaction.

Therefore, rather than leaving the problem of labor shortage as it is, it is necessary to immediately address it 

Benefits of business improvement by using rapid freezers

Utilizing a rapid freezers improves business operations and daily processes.

Below is a summary of the benefits of using rapid freezers.

• Maintain quality such as taste and safety and deliver it to consumers consistently.
• By reducing food loss, ingredients costs can be reduced.
• Introducing pre-cooking allows for planned production and alleviates labor shortages.

Deliver products consistently to consumers while maintaining quality

In recent years, COVID has spread not only in Japan but all over the world, and as people have been restricted from going out, there has been an increase in demand for food delivery. Partly as a result of this, the e-commerce industry has rapidly boomed, and the number of companies entering the e-commerce industry has increased. Under such circumstances, conventional commercial refrigeration machines for fresh fish and meat caught on remote islands were unable to maintain the quality, making it impossible for producers to deliver satisfactory products to consumers. By transitioning to rapid freezers as an improvement measure, companies will be able to deliver products to consumers while maintaining quality.

Reduce food loss and ingredients costs

By using rapid freezers, you can cook and freeze food all at once. Therefore, you can reduce food loss. In addition, since rapid frozen food can be stored for a long time while maintaining quality, ingredients costs can be significantly reduced by purchasing in bulk when ingredients are cheap and storing them frozen.

Implementing pre-cooking to improve labor shortages

By using rapid freezers, you can streamline processes, such as preparing food during "idle time" rather than "peak time". By doing so, you can significantly save time and plan production. At school lunches, hospital facilities, restaurants, etc., cooks prepare food all at once, store it in rapid freezers, and then deliver the food to each school, hospital, and restaurant. By being able to prepare food in advance and plan production, you can  solve issues related to labor shortages and reduce labor costs.

"rapid freezing technology" has been attracting attention in recent years in Japan. By effectively transitioning to rapid freezers, you can not only improve the quality of food, but also improve processes and alleviate labor shortages. As discussed in the benefits above, reducing food waste and improving cooking operations can also lead to improved sales.

Summary

In this article, we discussed the causes of labor shortages, the benefits of using rapid freezers and examples of implementation.

The causes of labor shortages are "low birthrate/ aging population'' and " production efficiency issues,'' and the benefits of improving production processes. 

​Introducing rapid freezer is an effective way to alleviate labor shortage.

The advantages of transitioning to rapid freezers are: delivering food to consumers while maintaining quality, reducing food loss and ingredients, and  improving labor shortages by utilizing pre-cooking.''

If the labor shortage is left unchecked, the burden on employees will increase, the turnover rate will increase, and the company will go bankrupt, leading to major problems. Therefore, rather than leaving the labor shortage as it is, it is better to change your perspective and treat it as a major problem for your company.