MORIYA, Japan (AP) — The debate over machines snatching jobs from people is muted in Japan, where birth rates have been sinking for decades, raising fears of a labor shortage.
It would be hard to find a culture that celebrates robots more. Japanese consumers have even flocked to buy companion robots from the internet company SoftBank and Toyota Motor Corp., among others.
Japan, which forged a big push toward robotics in the 1990s, leads the world in robots per 10,000 workers in the auto sector.
One factor in Japan's different take on automation is the "lifetime employment" system. Major Japanese companies generally retain workers even if their abilities become outdated.
The system also trains them for other tasks within the same company instead of eliminating them.