Japan considers expanding industries eligible for foreign skilled workers

There isn’t a labor shortage!

There are cheap wages and harsh conditions though…

How about making a minimum 350,000 yen a month salary requirement to ensure everyone working has enough funds to live and save so that they don’t cause problems. Or is this just an attempt to get near slave wages and working poor in Japan by its neighbors?

There should be no workforce challenges in nursing care, construction, and agriculture if workers could earn decent wages in those industries. Just think of enormous costs of accepting immigrants that our future generations will have to pay.

Yeah, because trash collection and linen supply (laundering sheets and towels?) takes real skill.

The Specified Skilled Worker No. 1 visa enables holders to spend five years in Japan, while the No. 2 visa offers unlimited renewals, opening the path to permanent residency and permitting workers to bring their spouses and children to the country.

The Specified Skilled Worker No. 1 visa enables holders to spend five years in Japan, while the No. 2 visa offers unlimited renewals, opening the path to SOCIETAL DECAY AND A DOWNWARD SPIRAL FOR JAPAN ESPECIALLY IF THE workers to bring their spouses and children to the country.

Fixed it.

Necessary, as Japan's depopulation and aging is taking off like a rocket, record deaths in Jan, births collapsing steadily and the median age keeps rising, meaning productivity is getting far worse, already worst in G-7

How about making a minimum 350,000 yen a month salary requirement

Agree 100%.

Sadly it won’t happen. I work in a skilled job involving high voltage power systems, and not even the Japanese around me earn that. They are all on ¥260,000 per month gross. Absolutely ridiculous.

read between lines.

more "skilled" labour is on way to Japan so there is no increase of average salaries in sight.

to say easy-more cheap asian slaves will come.

Japan's workforce steadily shrinking, even with record immigration the last 3 years, 1.1+ million new immigrants in 22, 23 and 24 in total, or about +40% increase.

Japan's citizens median age also set to increase steadily, rising from 50 today to 67 in 2060, so there's no help on the way domestically, rather the EXACT opposite, rapidly growing +80 population that requires serious $support

At this rate

Seems like the best thing to do is for us to go back to our own countries where everything is better than Japan

Recruit's projections for labour undersupply in Japan are wild. They reckon what we have now is just the beginning and the situation will deteriorate rapidly from here.

https://recruit-holdings.com/en/blog/post_20230926_0001/

Increased immigration is one of the few solutions, but its going to be hard for a country with low wages and a weak currency.

Solving a short term labor problem by introducing a culturally different underclass into a homogeneous society like Japan will lead to greater problems in the future. Much better to encourage those not in work return and those in work to stay in employment. There are advantages to multiculturalism (labor, spicy food and Olympic quality athletes) but in my opinion based on the European experience, the disadvantages far outweigh.

Look at the areas with large immigrant populations in the Kanto area, Yotsukaido in Chiba and Warabi in Saitama. Hardly examples that any sensible government would want to follow.

Japan considers.....

everything under the sun, EXCEPT pay higher wages.

It's all about the money, nothing else. Get a clue.

Without immigrants Japan's economy will collapse. Govt. debt burden growing enormously, as long-term interest rates on the JGB for the 40year bond, approach 3.5%.

Question is how to manage it. It's really more about Japan changing its education system than anything else, because kanji going the way of the dodo bird, as there is no more 'new' country culture etc., everything connected

Japan will very soon be just 1% of Global GDP, likely won't even make 3% this year, dropping like a rock

Peter NeilToday  06:34 am JST

It should be expanded to real skilled workers, like engineers, truly skilled fabrication and production workers, electro-mechanical technicians, real computer engineers and not just coders making dancing bunnies on sketchy websites.

I resecfully disagree. The reasons are not to different to other countries that did that.

It means that instead of investing in your own workforce, companies just brought in a fully qualified engineer from antoerh country. Since that is a fast, cheap option, universities won't train any more than in needed. So, you are lowering the high-quality jobs for the native population. We could take the U.K as a good example. They reduced medical, nursing, and construction training places, because we just brought them in from somewhere else.(Of course, the excuse to make it palatable to the population is, they are world-class, highly payed, talented people) The truth is that they were just ordinary people. We can always pay top dollar/yen for true world-class talent. Then you find out 20.30 years down the line, your native population (nomatter the country) when times get tough, get upset, resentful, especielly with massive student debt. We should be encouraging our own kids, to train in these jobs, nursing, medicine, engineering, and if the waiter staff from somewhere else, so be it. But again when times get hard, and pensioners can't get that extra part time job to top up their pension. Some people will get resentful.

Mr KiplingToday  02:33 pm JST

Solving a short term labor problem by introducing a culturally different underclass into a homogeneous society like Japan will lead to greater problems in the future. Much better to encourage those not in work return and those in work to stay in employment. There are advantages to multiculturalism (labor, spicy food and Olympic quality athletes) but in my opinion based on the European experience, the disadvantages far outweigh. 

Look at the areas with large immigrant populations in the Kanto area, Yotsukaido in Chiba and Warabi in Saitama. Hardly examples that any sensible government would want to follow.

I do agree to some point. We can look at the problems Europe is encountering. While it is a minority, as a society and a human, people generally tend to stick with and identify with their own group. As they come, who will provide housing? how about health care language needs? How about dealing with religious issues at work, school, and hospitals? Who will pay for the language training? (It won't be English). When someone decides to have two wives? Pop over to (said country) get married to a second wife and bring them over on a visa.

Japan has one massive advantage, it can learn from the mistakes from Europe,Canada, Australia, etc.

Maybe we need to increase the retirement age. We should try to steer kids into those high-skilled areas.

Yes, we need some immigrants, (absolutely) but not at the expense of the native population and social cohesion. and we should be able to discuss immigration without being called Racist.

Japan will very soon be just 1% of Global GDP, likely won't even make 3% this year, dropping like a rock.

Time to move back home, then.

Anyone working in Japan should be 'global', as the market here is too small and getting smaller by the day. Applies to both citizens and residents, economic reality!

@wallace,

Not everyone moves to another country for economic reasons. It's easy to tell someone to "go back home", but I bet if someone told you that, oh boy...

Plus, if you live somewhere for years, it's not as simple as stuffing a couple of suitcases and buh-bye, I'm sure you know this.

Gotta love the "you're not allowed to have concerns about the country you live in if you were not born there" attitude.

ILoveDownvotes

I agree with your post.

When someone makes so many negative posts about the country, I do have to wonder why they live here.

opening the path to SOCIETAL DECAY AND A DOWNWARD SPIRAL FOR JAPAN ESPECIALLY IF THE workers to bring their spouses and children to the country.

Actually, that’s quite naïve. Japan has been in steady decline—economically and intellectually—for the past 30 years. Foreigners are stepping in to do jobs that either no one here wants or that simply don’t have enough local takers, often for less pay. So yes, a bit of gratitude wouldn’t hurt. In fact, it’s long overdue.

Solving a short term labor problem by introducing a culturally different underclass into a homogeneous society like Japan will lead to greater problems in the future.

Japan’s so-called homogeneity didn’t just happen—it was enforced, often brutally. The historical suppression of difference was ruthless; the samurai-era state made modern extremists look tame by comparison. Japan has long been one of the least tolerant societies, to the point where even ethnic Koreans born and raised there have had to conceal their identity just to avoid discrimination. I personally know two people who’ve done exactly that. So no, Japan hasn’t been some flawless utopia—it’s had deep-rooted issues for a long time. And now, with its economic and intellectual stagnation dragging on for over 30 years, even native Japanese are slipping into an underclass. Time to step out of the fantasy and face reality.

Koreans born and raised there have had to conceal their identity just to avoid discrimination.

So you think it is going to be better for Vietnamese, Cambodians, Nepalis etc who can't hide their identity?

MeiyouwentiMay 17  07:48 am JST

There should be no workforce challenges in nursing care, construction, and agriculture if workers could earn decent wages in those industries. Just think of enormous costs of accepting immigrants that our future generations will have to pay.

It's going to cost you right now if you can't get your elder care.

@wallace

Well, majority of news sites usually focus on negative news, and as such discussing them won't be very happy. I don't think anyone living here hates Japan, because - simply, as you said - the would've ran away screaming years ago. :-)

BTW I feel a lot of complaints from expats seem to be shared by the locals, too..