The NYT is sounding the alarm because the number of engineering students in Japan has fallen by approximately 10 percent over the last decade. Apparently students are turning to other higher paying or more exciting occupations. The big question that readers of this article should ask is: "what is the problem?"
Japan's overall population is declining very modestly and its workforce will soon be declining somewhat more rapidly, so it would not be surprising if the number of engineers in Japan also fell. Furthermore, the article never providing the most basic information that would indicate the extent of any shortage: what is happening to engineers' wages? If there is a shortage of engineers in Japan, then we would expect rapid increases in their wages.
The article does not tell us anything about engineers' wages except that they are lower than for doctors and for people in finance. Without information on wage growth there is no way to assess the extent to which a shortage of engineers might actually be creating a problem for Japan's economy.
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