Better Working Environment Necessary for Foreign Trainees in Japan

Since this April, Japan has started to accept more foreign workers under the Technical Intern Training Program (外国人技能実習制度) in an attempt to ease labor shortages caused by an aging population. However, I strongly believe that, unless major overhaul is carried out, the new system will only make the situation worse, causing conflicts with foreign workers, damaging Japan’s reputation, and leaving Japan vulnerable to a worldwide competition for human resources.

Japan’s declining working population

Japan will be the first developed country to experience an aging society, and the speed is at an unprecedented level. There are 400,000 more deaths than births each year. Over 28% of the population is older than 65, compared with 21% in Germany, 15% in America and 6% in India. It is hard to believe, but the ratio of male / female in the workplace has recently surpassed that of America. Amazingly, there are 1.6 vacancies for every jobseeker. To alleviate the situation, Japan has been making a conscious effort to develop and apply AI technologies into various fields for improving its notorious labor productivity. It is expected to take a lot of time before any tangible results come out. Japan desperately needs workforce. One easy solution is to bring more workers from other countries.

Technical Intern Training Program

Japan introduced the Technical Intern Training Program in 1993 in the name of transferring skills to developing countries. The number of technical intern trainees has increased continually every year since the introduction due to requests from industries suffering from labor shortages. Technical intern trainees account for about 20% of Japan’s 1.28 million foreign workers. Japan has faced criticism for effectively using the system as cheap labor under severe conditions, such as low wage, unpaid wage, long working hours, and abuse at the workplace. What’s more, the program does not allow workers to bring family members to Japan and prohibits them from switching workplaces.

Problems Arise

As a result of harsh working conditions, the number of trainees who disappear seems to have grown each year, with a total of 9,000 in 2018. Distrust of Japanese are being widespread among foreign trainees. On the other hand, for many Japanese who do not know the real situation, there is also an increasing distrust of foreign workers. Some have even raised concerns that more foreign workers may result in a deterioration of public safety due to crimes committed by them. Not much Japanese language study support or programs are provided by employing companies or local communities, only promoting isolation from local communities in which they live in. Despite these problems, the government thinks of nothing but bringing in more foreign workers without having established appropriate foundations. This is only damaging the reputations of Japan.

  

Better Working Environment Necessary

If Japan wants to improve its labor shortage and expand the number of foreign workers, it needs to ensure that migrants are treated decently. We must pay equal pay for equal work, extend support for housing, Japanese language study, and local community support. Otherwise, many of them may eventually turn away and head for other countries looking for better conditions. Japan will not be able to secure sufficient workers to help sustain the economy.

Japan is at a crossroads. I believe that it is time for every Japanese citizen to seriously think about what kind of country they ultimately want Japan to become. We just cannot continue and gradually grow this de-facto immigration policy without concrete ideas. It requires our urgent attention! You never know, this may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Japan can show to the world on how to make an aging society fulfilling and sustainable.