Sail BoatI hadn’t planned on writing this post today, as there’s a pretty long article (my longest, actually) currently in the queue, but the current economic situation is leaving me to wonder if I picked the wrong time to move to Japan.

Today the Japanese stock market has fallen to levels not seen in years, and the other Asian markets aren’t doing too well, either. The US Federal Reserve has slashed interest on overnight loan rates by 0.75% in an effort to stave off a severe economic depression. With all this going on, I can’t help but wonder if people will still want to learn English in the next few years. Considering how I just started the profession a few months back, I’d be one of the first on the chopping block if my employer decided to cut back on native speakers.

I’ve been looking for some better work in this country since before moving, and I’ve been unable to find anything outside of Tokyo for a man of my skills. Does this mean that I’d move to Tokyo just to stay in Japan and earn money for my family? Well … if I had to. But if the analysts are even half right about the current state of the market, then I might not have any work in any profession outside of appliance repair. Since people wouldn’t want to buy a new dishwasher or gas stove whenever the old ones break, I could certainly put my skills to use repairing such things again. Heck, I do have eight years experience with the trade, after all.

But would I be able to do that in Japan? Probably not.

Unfortunately, without a healthy economy, there are very few opportunities in this country for foreigners with minimal language skills. Sure, I can speak English and French, but that doesn’t mean anything where the target language is Japanese.

My wife and I both work at English schools (different ones, though), and I’m quite concerned about our future. Nothing in this country is cheap. We’ve already paid for most of our upcoming wedding ceremony, and we have people coming from all over the world to attend. While I doubt the world economy will collapse into a fetal position before May, should Reiko and I consider revising some of our plans for the coming spring?

It’s a difficult decision, and not one I can make without more data. That said, I’ll be watching the markets a bit more over the next few months to determine which direction we should go. Both Reiko and I could find work in Canada doing something … anything. But in Japan, I’m afraid that only Reiko could earn a respectable wage.

That said, there is some good to come out of this economic downturn. The John Chows of the world will lose all meaning because they’ll no longer have revenue streams. People will not make as much money online as in the past, which means that internet users will need to either adapt to the situation and find new international markets to sell themselves to, or they’ll need to sit back and wait for someone with a little more ingenuity to determine the next best way to earn a living online.

None of the market’s work will affect most of us immediately, and any layoffs or work contract cancellations will likely not start being doled out until the coming fall. But if it happens to come my way, I want to be prepared enough to either get by for a few months in this country, or fly back to Canada (anywhere in that country) and try to get in somewhere with one of the base skill sets I have to offer.

How could this economic shift affect you? Will your work be affected by a market slowdown? What will you do if the company lays you off or shuts down outright?

It’s times like this I wish I had a few million dollars and a nice sailboat. I’d just stock up on some food and find a nice Pacific island to inhabit for a little while :P