Japan, perhaps more than any other country, has a rich history of celebrity endorsements (our personal favourite example: this Parliament Cigarettes commercial from the 1990s with Charlie Sheen). However, Japanese convenience store operator FamilyMart has taken things to a new level by hiring Lady Gaga to star not in a commercial for the chain, but in a recruitment video.
The ad could prove to be something of a turning point for corporate Japan as it continues to struggle with a national labour shortage crisis that has taxed much more than just the convenience store industry. The country currently has around 800,000 active job vacancies, with 1.2 openings for every one jobseeker — in parts of industries like construction, that ratio is as high as 7.9-to-1.
The strategy of making workplaces look more attractive is one that Japanese companies have taken instead of raising wages — real annual earnings for a full-time worker were basically unchanged between 2014 and 2024. But splashing big on securing a Gaga cameo rather than, say, investing in employee development, is something new altogether.
In the 30-second clip, a cadre of Lady Gagas rocking matching platinum bobs and chic versions of the FamilyMart uniform mop the aisles, stock the shelves, and ask the viewer “Why not work at FamilyMart?” The spot — as well as other developments like a modern update of its uniform — is a direct appeal to the young, tech-savvy workers FamilyMart and other Japanese convenience stores are desperate to attract as they contend with labour shortages, wobbly sales, and reputations for grinding working conditions. Currently, FamilyMart is seeking to hire some 10,000 part-time staff, while 7-Eleven is looking for around twice as many.
As Japan continues to age and its workforce continues to decline, the issue is more likely to get worse before it gets better, and pop stars cosplaying as employees isn’t going to solve the issue. One potential solution, though, that has seen a lot of uptake, is the welcoming of more foreign workers. There is already a record number of foreign workers in the country who hold Specified Skilled Worker visas. And, starting next April, the government is implementing a new stream that could see as many as 426,000 foreigners enter the workforce over a two-year span. Between the two streams, an additional 1.23 million workers could soon be on the job.
However, there are major concerns that the nation’s language schools will not be able to take on the rush of foreign workers who will need to obtain proficiency in Japanese in order to stick around. Likewise, as with any nation that relies on a sudden influx of foreign workers to offset labour shortages (see: Canada), there are fears that the already crunched housing market and social services apparatus won’t be able to support all these newcomers. All said, nations trying to navigate how to build workforces as their populations rapidly age will likely be one of the defining economic trends of the next several decades.
