人材不足に苦しむ
多くの企業が人材不足に苦しんでいる。
Many companies are struggling with labor shortages.
To experience difficulties due to a lack of qualified personnel or workforce.
この業界は人材不足に苦しんでおり、採用が難航している。
This industry is struggling with labor shortages, making recruitment difficult.
中小企業は人材不足に苦しみ、業績が悪化している。
Small and medium-sized enterprises are struggling with labor shortages, leading to declining performance.
Commonly used in business contexts to describe challenges in hiring or retaining employees. Often paired with terms like 採用難 (difficulty in hiring) or 労働力不足 (labor shortage).
To suffer mentally or emotionally due to insufficient human resources.
人材不足に苦しむ社員が増えている。
The number of employees suffering from labor shortages is increasing.
Refers to the psychological burden on existing staff due to understaffing.
Collocations
Synonyms
Related Phrases
Pro Tip
Common collocation pattern
This phrase often appears in sentences with causative structures like 「人材不足に苦しんでいる」 or 「人材不足に苦しんでいる企業が多い」. Pay attention to the particle に to indicate the cause of suffering.
Gold Rule
Business context usage
Use this phrase when discussing challenges in hiring, retention, or workforce management. Avoid using it in casual conversations about personal life or unrelated shortages.
Word Origin
人材 (jinzai) = human resources / personnel; 不足 (busoku) = shortage; に (ni) = particle indicating reason/cause; 苦しむ (kurushimu) = to suffer. The phrase combines these components to describe the state of suffering due to a lack of personnel.
Usage Notes
1. Primarily used in formal or business contexts. 2. Often appears in news reports, corporate statements, or HR discussions. 3. Can be used metaphorically to describe any situation where a lack of resources (not just human) causes difficulty, though this is less common.