ZCZC
BCN-23
JAPAN-ECONOMY-IMMIGRATION
Japan unveils plan to attract more foreign workers
TOKYO, Oct 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Japan on Friday unveiled a plan to attract
more foreign blue-collar workers, as the world’s number-three economy battles
a crippling labour shortage caused by an ageing and shrinking population.
The plan reportedly aims to fill gaping shortages in sectors such as
agriculture, nursing, construction, hotels and shipbuilding.
Under the draft legislation, foreign nationals with skills in fields
identified as facing shortages would be awarded a visa allowing them to work
for up to five years.
Foreign workers in those fields who hold stronger qualifications and pass
a Japanese language test will also be allowed to bring family members and can
obtain permanent residency status.
Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Friday that the bill
would be submitted to parliament “at the earliest possible time,” with a
possible launch in April.
Japan has traditionally been cautious about accepting unskilled workers
from abroad and currently limits residential status to highly skilled
professionals.
The only exception to this rule is for South Americans of Japanese
descent.
And Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has stressed the reforms are
not intended as a wholesale overhaul of Japanese immigration policy, and mass
immigration is not expected.
Japan will not rely heavily on foreign immigrants and the policy “remains
unchanged,” Suga said, asked if this represented a drastic shift in
immigration policy towards accepting a large number of foreigners.
Businesses have long lobbied for looser immigration rules, saying they
struggle to find workers in a country where unemployment hovers around 2.5
percent and there are 163 job vacancies to every 100 job seekers.
The government has not set a target for foreign workers under the new
proposals, although local media put the figure at more than 500,000 people by
2025.
According to government figures, there were 1.28 million foreign workers
in Japan in 2017 — twice as many as a decade ago.
But more than 450,000 of those are foreign spouses of Japanese citizens,
ethnic Koreans long settled in Japan, or foreigners of Japanese descent,
rather than workers coming to Japan to seek jobs.
A further 300,000 are students, who are allowed to work part-time during
their studies but are expected to return home afterwards.
Japan had fewer than 240,000 foreign skilled workers and just over 250,000
foreign trainees in the country in late 2017, according to government
figures.
It has bilateral deals admitting limited numbers of nurses and care
workers from other parts of Asia.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1205