Japan is facing a historic labor crisis that has reached unprecedented levels. According to a recent survey by Teikoku Databank conducted in February 2025, around 67.8% of companies report a shortage of leadership talent at the managerial level or higher. One major reason: companies are so short-staffed that they don’t even have the capacity to focus on leadership development. Managers are already overwhelmed fulfilling "player-manager" roles, creating a negative cycle where they have no time or energy to nurture future leaders.
Another factor: younger employees are often hesitant to take on leadership roles. One common concern is that the burden of being a manager outweighs the benefits. In one study, 63.7% of managers reported being overworked — with 58.1% citing labor shortages as the cause. In organizations with multiple locations, managers are often required to oversee teams at other sites, requiring frequent business trips and time away from their families. Combined with already heavy workloads, this additional travel can have a major personal toll, discouraging people from stepping into leadership roles and stunting long term growth.
Education First: Advancing talent strategy through technology
EF Education First is a global education company headquartered in Switzerland, offering language training, cultural exchange, and academic programs across 114 countries. Operating in Japan since 1972, EF runs a flagship language center in Tokyo that serves as its Asia regional hub, supporting international learners, institutional partners and organized educational travel programs across Japan and the wider continent.
Today, with eight offices across Japan, EF has adopted tonari, a next-generation remote communication tool, to bridge the gap between Tokyo HQ and Nagoya. With its large screen that creates the impression of being face-to-face, tonari enables close, remote management without travel. This system empowers leaders to work across locations without physically relocating, offering a sustainable solution to Japan’s labor and leadership challenges.
A new kind of leadership made possible by tonari
Mikie Sugie, a manager at Education First, embodies this new model of cross-location leadership made possible by tonari.
Based in EF’s Nagoya office, Sugie’s empathetic leadership and ability to bring out the best in others has made her an indispensable part of the EF family. Recognizing her strengths, EF appointed her to manage a Tokyo–Nagoya collaboration project, where she now uses tonari daily for remote leadership.
“I love working with people, and face-to-face connection really matters to me,” says Sugie. “Remote communication can sometimes feel awkward, but with tonari it’s like we’re actually facing each other.” Because tonari is always connected, it allows for casual, spontaneous interactions that feel just like being in the same space.
She adds: “I really appreciate being able to take on this new challenge while staying rooted in my home life — without needing to relocate or travel frequently.”
When asked about what Sugie brings to both of her teams, EF Japan Country Manager Nana Grønning Ito comments:
“Sugie-san is respected not only for her skills but also for her warmth and character. Having her lead across locations is a huge asset for everyone. And as a woman stepping into this kind of leadership role, she also serves as an important new role model.”
Looking ahead, EF plans to expand tonari’s use to further cross-office management and strengthen company culture.
tonari and the foundations of a sustainable workplace
Japan’s shortage of workers and managerial talent — paired with the burden of travel required for leadership roles — highlights the need for a sustainable collaboration model. Many companies, including EF, are already experiencing tonari’s tangible benefits:
- Empowering in-house talent to lead across offices
- Eliminating the need for managerial relocation, making it easier to balance work and family
- Promoting flexible work styles and improving talent retention
- Ensuring leadership continuity and enhancing inter-office collaboration
- Reducing high business travel costs
A flexible, sustainable work model not only creates more inclusive workplaces, but also addresses ongoing labor and leadership shortages. Rethinking how we work is essential for developing leaders, boosting engagement, and retaining talent — and tonari is a powerful step in that direction.
tonari: human-centered technology that brings people together across distance
tonari is a floor-to-ceiling, always-on video portal. With ultra-low-latency video and audio, it creates the sensation of truly being in the same space. By conveying subtle nonverbal cues — which make up roughly 93% of communication — tonari enables nuanced interactions that ordinary video calls cannot replicate.
Since its introduction at EF’s Tokyo and Nagoya offices, internal surveys after just two months show measurable improvements:
These results demonstrate that tonari fosters a sense social proximity, enabling teams to feel as if they are sharing the same space, even when physically apart.
By bridging physical distance, tonari cultivates human-centered connections, trust, and engagement, all critical for sustainable organizational growth. EF emphasizes that technology is not an end in itself: “tonari brings people closer, but ultimately strengthens the human desire to meet and collaborate face-to-face — the same authentic experience we aim to deliver to students,” says Mikiye Sugie, who oversees EF’s two-location management from Nagoya.
Amid managerial shortages and travel barriers, tonari provides a sustainable way for teams to collaborate, fostering trust, connection, and engagement across locations. For EF, it strengthens organizational culture and staff collaboration, ensuring that both employees and students continue to experience authentic growth and meaningful connections.