Japan may face a shortage of more than 11 million workers by 2040, a study has found, underscoring the economic challenges the nation faces as its population ages rapidly. The worker supply is expected to shrink by about 12% in 2040 from 2022, even as labor demand remains steady, the report said.
Currently, a Japanese government panel tasked with reviewing the country’s foreign technical intern program held a meeting in Tokyo recently. The panel plans to propose scrapping the country’s controversial trainee program for foreigners and creating a new system to address issues related to human rights violations according to a draft interim report. The new system, according to the draft, should clearly state it is intended to secure and develop human resources.
With the government planning to base the new system on conclusions from the 15-strong expert panel of academics and local government heads, its launch could mark a new turning point for accepting foreign workers. The panel aims to compile an interim report as soon as the end of April and finalize it by fall 2023.
Speaking to reporters, Japan International Cooperation Agency President Akihiko Tanaka, who heads the panel, said as many businesses have no choice but to rely heavily on the labor of foreign trainees and it is important to create a new system that takes the good parts of the program, rather than scrapping the entire thing. He also added that, the new plan would also address Japan’s labor shortage in certain industries.
The draft also calls for enabling workers to change their job within the same business categories. Technically, those in the foreign trainee program cannot transfer to different workplaces.
As of the end of 2022, around 325,000 foreign technical trainees were enrolled in the program to transfer knowledge and skills to developing countries from Japan. Established 30 years ago, it has been criticized for simply allowing companies to import cheap labor and has received multiple allegations of trainee abuse.
Japan also introduced the internship program in 1993, primarily for the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, with trainees permitted to work for up to five years.
In March, an expert panel also proposed the expansion of Japan’s flexible working scheme and a four-day work week that have been introduced for national government employees. Recently, moves to hike wages have also been reported, with Japan’s largest union sealing a 5.28% average pay hike deal while other major employers announce salary increases for their staff.
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