Japan is the world’s third largest economy; Japan plans to hire blue-collar workers from other countries of the world. The country’s government said the decision has been taken because of labor shortages in the workplace due to the increase in the number of older people in Japan and the decrease in population. Foreign workers from different countries will be recruited in the labor-intensive sectors like agriculture, nursing, construction, hotels, and shipping industries.
According to the draft law, foreign skilled workers will be given five-year visas by identifying the areas where there are labor shortages. However, the foreign workers who exhibit greater efficiency in the workplace and who pass the Japanese language test, they will be given the opportunity to take their family also. At the same time, they will be allowed to settle permanently in Japan.
Japanese government spokesman and current Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the bill to permit foreign workers to work in Japan will be presented in Parliament very soon. It is planned to be implemented by April next year.
Traditionally Japan is quite cautious about taking and recruiting unskilled workers. So it is natural to take their alert stand on this issue. The rate of allowing the permanent resident facility for foreign professionals is still quite limited in the country. At present, the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzō Abe, does not want a radical change in the ongoing immigration policy. At the same time, they have been opposed that Japan to becoming a more migrant country. Because Japan is never a foreign worker-dependent country. Their policies have remained unchanged as before, says Suga.
Although different business communities of the country have been pressurized the government for a long time to change the immigration policy. Because the unemployment rate in Japan is only 2.5 percent. The funny thing is, in contrast to 100 average job applicants, there are 163 vacancies in the country.
According to the country’s official estimation, there are approximately 10.88 million foreign workers in Japan, which is more than twice as much as a decade ago. The country also has about three million foreign students who have part-time jobs.
The government of Japan has not yet clarified about how many foreign workers will be taken by Japan’s new plan. However, according to local media reports, about 500,000 foreign workers could be taken by 2025.
The InCAP Desk
