Japan considers letting more skilled foreign workers stay indefinitely

They got a guy like you to come and stay, so they should not have problem.

HA!

well actually THEY ARE having problems getting people.

HA!!

the low wages are high wages for the type of workers they are really targeting, such as Vietnamese, Filipino, Laotian and the like. Skilled...not so much. Factory workers, farm hands etc

If they really want to crack this challenge, the government needs to start thinking how to pursuade people from other countries to consider immigrating to Japan. The arrogant assumption that the world is clamouring to come here is at the root of its repeated failure to make a dent in the problem.

“Skilled” Vietnamese workers, to be precise.

https://thediplomat.com/2020/10/how-japans-labor-trainee-program-hurts-relations-with-vietnam/

https://ampe.vnexpress.net/news/business/economy/vietnamese-workers-could-stay-in-japan-indefinitely-4389531.html

Almost every Japanese industry now employs these people into management and executive positions. Japanese natives are really envious of them, if you have read “Japan's middle class slowly sinking into poverty” article here.

This will be a good opportunity for Vietnamese workers and investors becoming prominent in Japan. However, I fear they will become just like another Zainichi Koreans at this rate. It is merely a matter of time that we will see “Hating the Vietnamese wave” if Japan decides importing huge loads of these people.

The Japanese people are by and large great and I have great friendships in Japan but can see where both drlucifer and Cleo are coming from.

Doing anything as a foreigner in Japan with bureaucracy,companies, finance etc are different than for a native-that’s annoying.

However, I’m in the UK at the moment and the amount of confrontation that I experience is a lot higher than Japan-it’s actually quite surprising after more than 30 years away.

Japan is my home, my family are Japanese, my children have both nationalities "under" the hood. It's a great place if you embrace it for all that is, good and bad. Where is perfect? Exactly.

"Japan is just not ‘the place’ to be …"

Let's recap:

Where to you live again?!

Japan wants so much. But giving too little.

HA!! They would have to get them to come in the first place.

They got a guy like you to come and stay, so they should not have problem.

HA!

Slaves are never paid.

Thats right but workers in Japan are paid. As you can personally to testify to that fact, since you are in Japan and have money for a computer and internet connection.

Good initiative.

Many people especially from Asia want to come and work here. There are sectors where it is difficult to find manpower, also because many young locals do not want to have a hardship anymore. Wage is not an issue as it is always higher than in their home countries. And many with skills can find much better and decent jobs when the Japanese skills are good. The only problem might be the lack of vacation

Depends on the ethnicity, east asian and south east asian should be fine.

Your welcome time in Japan is 3 years. If you stay more than 5 years you have exceeded your welcome. And you start being asked where you are from and when you are going back. The more you understand the language the more the possibilities of losing your insanity increases.

Makes a body wonder what some people are getting up to, to make themselves such outcasts.

Your welcome time in Japan is 3 years. If you stay more than 5 years you have exceeded your welcome. And you start being asked where you are from and when you are going back. The more you understand the language the more the possibilities of losing your insanity increases.

Can a company in Japan provide me with 7 weeks of paid holiday, full health insurance for my family, independence for working hours including wished time spent sipping coffee, good enough salary, etc ?

And that is not even considering the amount of increasing taxes you give with the trend always being the same (up up up) while politicians are leeches.

Don't forget retirement funds are a huge loss for your future.

@Good

Even they wont come due to low wages ,dicriminartory re-entry restrictions on foreigners,

They prefer even Africa where they get more money,respect and a friendly enviroment

instead of opening the floodgates, why not help the ones here who already pay tax by increasing wages?

It takes a lot of commitment to come to Japan just to work. If earning is your goal, English speaking countries are 4x easier. There are too many hurdles in Japan, not including the language, for a blue collar worker to overcome to have a decent life.

What’s there to complain about? Sounds good to me.

The more you try to integrate the more you discover it is an unsubmountable task. The mistrust of foreigners runs so deep it is like trying to tap wine from a rock. A friend foreigner tried applying for a website he was creating and was told his application wasn't accepted for security reasons. How does a vendor who only accepts payment and doesn't store customer credit card info pose a security risk.

Japan considers letting more skilled foreign workers stay indefinitely :

No point taking too long to consider.

Recruiting foreign talents has proven to be an advantageous move in promoting the competitiveness of a nation to progress further in this modern world..

The move aims to address a severe labor shortage in Japan faced with a rapidly graying population and declining birth rate.

So many brain death people or more like parrots with a keyboard writing articles without thinking. There are lots of Japanese temp workers losing or lost their jobs to Vietnamese on 5 year contracts brought in by brokers. Hiw about the thousands that lost their jobs during the pandemic and still can't find even a low paying job. Journalsm is alien word here, parrots preferred for the misinformation campaign,

More abused, mistreated under paid slave labor.

Japan considers letting more skilled foreign workers stay indefinitely

whoppie!

they’ve been letting UNskilled domestic politicians stay in office, forever.

what’s the difference?

People with in-demand skills like programmers can do much better in other countries with better working conditions. Few companies in Japan will properly value their skills. It will be "you're on 200,000 a month for three months as probation" etc.

However, if we take the "skilled" as government PR/guff and cover for fruit pickers and people working fish paste factories, then yes, better conditions for them and the ability to bring their families would be progress. They deserved much better treatment.

This article illustrates PERFECTLY the issue of HOW Japan's population is declining & HOW that affects things like the labour market.

Although better wages will of course help &really needs to happen, still there wont be enough bodies to fill positions, this is happening in offices too!

As I have said, Japan is in a nose dive, sadly likely too late to save itself, Jeff Lee take note.

And yes the govt needs to realize the 80, 90s are LONG gone, Japan missed the boat bigtime, what they are talking about above SHOULD have been in place in the 90s!!

Japan has lost its shine & people know it so i doubt this new program will work in the larger scheme of things.

"We would like to make sure that the new policy will be utilized properly to address the acute labor shortage," said Furukawa, 

labor shortage…….pay decent wages, cut ridiculous hours, and you’ll see workers come in droves.

Good decision .

Wonder how long it will still take until Japan finally accepts reality and begins to use the term "immigrant" or 移民 in official documents etc. The official stance of the government is still that there are no immigrants in Japan.

Inhumane LDP government who obedient to economy circle who only want cheap labour will expand modern version slavery.

Shipbuilding is such a specific skill set. I don't see why anyone with that specialty would want to work in Japan unless they had family reasons. Like others said, they'd make much more and have better working conditions in north America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand etc.

In some areas labor markets are globally open and competitive where the job-hopping mobility rate is high. Rather than Japan being bypassed, a worse case is that foreigners use Japan as a stepping stone to another lucrative country.

The Japanese authorities seem still paternalistic, as seen in descriptions above "allow them to stay in the country indefinitely" They ignore or stereotype the motive and strategy on the side of prospective foreign workers.

Specified Skilled Worker No. 1 and Specified Skilled Worker No. 2

If they are up for it. Good idea in theory. When I retire hopefully in a nice house on the sea front in Okinawa, these lovely people and hopefully their families will pay for my pension. Mwhahaha..

This "perk" is not nearly enough to attract people to come to work in Japan. The whole "us vs. them mentality" makes it almost impossible for foreigners to integrate and assimilate into Japanese society so who in their right mind would want to stay here indefinitely? Then there's the incredibly unhealthy work culture, which I have mentioned before, is incredibly toxic and detrimental to your physical and mental health. Nope. Go elsewhere for a better work-life balance and more lucrative pay.

Shipbuilding is such a specific skill set. I don't see why anyone with that specialty would want to work in Japan unless they had family reasons. Like others said, they'd make much more and have better working conditions in north America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand etc.

 he is studying the possibility of expanding the scope of the privileged status by hearing opinions from the ministries and agencies concerned.

No need to have more study, more restriction and less benefit, less foreign labor you'll get.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/05/29193315631c-japans-new-working-visa-falls-far-short-of-expectations-in-1st-year.html

Studies have shown that the benefits of immigration outweigh the drawbacks. However, that requires the possibility to integrate. J gov is doing nothing in that respect, just taking it for granted that everyone shares its delusional views of itself. Out-of-touch nationalism in practice.

HA!! They would have to get them to come in the first place. Ever since they launched the program, they've gotten a fraction of the people they need. The authorities here have drunk the Kool-Aid and think that EVERYONE wants to come to Japan, which is clearly not the case. They are in for a rude awakening.

skilled farm labourers, combini workers, factory hands.

Contrast to what appears to be, Japan's conbini work requires more skilled operations from inventory management to customer services. Combini crew, regardless of their nationality deserve higher wages & benefits.

A right to stay is different to being treated as a citizen with full rights.

In many other countries, permanent right of abode also grants voting rights and all the rights of a citizen.

It's still a step in the right direction, and will hopefully encourage some of these new residents to live and start lives in some of the declining rural towns that so desperately need new blood.

"farming and food services" Skilled? .... picking carrots and cutting onions?

Just a plan to get cheap labor.... Be careful what you wish for... Europe and the UK are now stuck with an underclass of immigrants and the problems they bring... crime, grooming gangs, drugs and knife crime. This will be Japan in 30 years.

Shouldn't that read,'Allow foreign stayers to work indefinitely'?

They would mostly just prop up unprofitable companies that exist purely for legacy or other non-economic reasons and can't/don't want to pay decent salaries. This scheme would be a net drain on Japan's socio-economic system.

skilled farm labourers, combini workers, factory hands.....

Thus is code for 'Lets invite 50000 Indian programmers since we have no idea what we're doing'

Japan is just not ‘the place’ to be …

No skilled foreigners are coming to Japan with the salaries Japanese companies pay. Get 5x in America or Australia