Sharp shifted some production to China before nearly 3,000 foreign job cuts

Sharp said it did not directly hire the workers and is in no position to comment on the contract termination

Sharp is certainly in a position to comment. The people were working in a Sharp factory and Sharp must have told the agency how many workers it needed, and for how long. At some point Sharp must have said it no longer needed the workers, otherwise they would still be working there.

As a few others have noted, SHARP is a (Taiwan) Chinese company.

And, has everyone forgotten Carlos Ghosn. He dumped more than 22 thousand Japanese workers. That made him a hero.

Temporary (fixed term contract workers) get dumped in Japan regardless of nationality. Most temporary workers in Japan are in fact Japanese and a large fraction of them are women.

Temporary workers get dumped in other countries as well. I happened to be in Oxford (UK) when the Lehman shock hit. Temporary workers in nearby Cowley in the automobile industry were being dumped in a big way.

In some countries, even regular workers get dumped at short notice. GM just announced 15,000 job losses.

The issue here is not that the workers were foreign nationals but that they were contract workers. Foreign nationals who have regular 正社員 jobs in Japan have the same legal protections as Japanese nationals. Japanese nationals who are in contract jobs are just as vulnerable as foreign nationals in contract jobs.

Further, because these workers are Nikkei, their resident rights in Japan is not dependent on them having a particular job or any job.

The clear majority of posters on this forum are supporters of "reforms," including "flexible" labor ones, not to mention "globalization," based on the comments. Well, this is what you get. Get used to it. Or oppose it, like I do.

As expected from Japan

Where’s the international community’s condemnation? One kind of expects by now that foreign workers will be treated unequally. Where are the mother countrys’ outcries? Workers are totally unprotected once they come here..or anywhere. When these workers come home they’re bringing back knowledge and know how.

discrimination is an acceptable practice and is alive and well in Japan....

@geronimo2006 yes absolutely, i would warn any foreigners from coming here to work, on a side note, look at the way Goshn was stabbed in the back by the Japanese, he cant give a fake bow and fake apology so he stews in prison for another month...

They should just stay in their country.

Then why offer jobs to foreigners if they should stay in their own country? Japan will need massive influxes of care workers in the next decade or so to look after the elderly - will you object to this too?

I have no sympathy if there is no one to look after Japanese elderly - Japan is taking a chance by being resistant to foreigners and so unwelcoming of those who do try to seek work here.

Unskilled laborers are easily disposable. They should just stay in their country.

Odd that, I feel the same about the elite and so-called educated. Not that they will suffer. Like, hey, they lose that lucrative deal/contract/company jet, big deal. They can still be wherever they please and do what they want.

Unlike the unskilled, mind.

Shocking and shame on Sharp.

I have no sympathy, they took a chance and went to a country that doesn't really want them. Unskilled laborers are easily disposable. They should just stay in their country.

It's a collective shame and a scandal for Japan, and the system has built-in corners where those responsible can feign innocence, point at others, and hide at every step.

What you say is right on the mark! Unfortunately the general public doesn't give a crap really. They don't care because they are not feeling any pinch in their lives.

When the general public starts to suffer, watch out!

They make facial recognition hardware? Not sure that I like it very much. My phone keeps recognizing me and lighting up when I am trying to slip it into my pocket. Back to old thumbprint technology please!

Seriously though, what can workers treated like this realistically do?

Get foreign workers through subcontractors and then cut them whenever convenient. Lovely. And this is from one their biggest companies. Word of warning to those thinking of coming to Japan for work. Consider your alternatives wisely because discrimination is an acceptable practice and is alive and well in Japan.

The headline should really be "Chinese owned company moves jobs to China".

It's a collective shame and a scandal for Japan, and the system has built-in corners where those responsible can feign innocence, point at others, and hide at every step.