Uber Eats has launched food deliveries using robots, reflecting the food service industry’s response to Japan’s rising manpower crisis.
According to GlobalData, the effort demonstrates a “paradigm change” occurring in the Japanese food-delivery industry.
Uber Eats’ decision to send its delivery robots comes after the government’s decision last February to relax traffic restrictions to allow autonomous delivery robots.
The administration decided in response to a labour shortage in the city’s transport sector. The move is also intended to help the elderly, who are becoming increasingly isolated.
“Japan’s population has been on a declining trend over the past few years. During 2018–23, the population fell at a negative compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.3 per cent,” said Mariko Kadosaka, key account director of GlobalData Japan.
“In 2023, the number of people, including foreigners, dropped by a little less than 832,000, according to preliminary data from the health ministry. The number of births fell by 5.1 per cent, exacerbating Japan’s struggle with its ageing society. The share of the working population has been constantly declining, creating severe labour shortages for companies operating in Japan.”
In addition, the innovation is likely to spark pushback from gig workers, who are already grappling with the country’s falling real wages and inflation.
