Amid labor shortage, Japan approves guidelines to upskill foreign workers

3 comments

1. With a weak yen, no one is going to want to work manual labor for minimum wage.
   Also, given the bad reputation of the technical intern system, I think the government is mistaken when it thinks lots of foreigners still want to come.

   While the prospect of long-term visas sounds good, I have a feeling it’s not going to work out in practice. A skilled worker will expect a wage to match their skills, but companies just want cheap labor. While there are lots of unskilled jobs vacant, are there enough skilled jobs available?

2. “The entire program allows for a smoother transition from the unskilled phase to the skilled phase so that when foreign workers acquire the necessary skills, they will be motivated to stay on in Japan.”

   I’m glad for incremental progress. And I think this will definitely benefit people who are already here and working. But this presupposition that all new workers arrive unskilled is just insulting. If that attitude is reflected in the legislation, and I assume it will be, it will scream Band-Aid 2.0. 

   It reeks of the idea of 育てる、in which the old generation ostensibly wants fresh energy and ideas, but only in service doing things in the same old way.

3. skilled workers/ trainee visa holders= cheap labor.

   this is the sad truth.