Japan aims to open door wider to blue-collar workers

[Swordsmyth]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet approved draft legislation on Friday to open the door to more overseas blue-collar workers in sectors grappling with labor shortages, a controversial policy shift in immigration-shy Japan.

Japan’s immigration debate is heating up even as U.S. President Donald Trump puts the topic front and center for next week’s Congressional mid-term elections.
Immigration has long been taboo as many Japanese prize ethnic homogeneity, but the reality of an aging, shrinking population is challenging such views.
Despite misgivings in Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), parliament is likely to adopt the revisions in the face of intense pressure from businesses battling the tightest labor market in decades, although opposition parties could delay.


The revised law would create two new visa categories for foreigners in sectors with labor shortages. While not spelt out, they are expected to be more than a dozen, from farming and construction to hotels and nursing care.
Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita on Thursday ruled out a numerical cap, but media said 500,000 blue-collar workers could be allowed in over time, up 40 percent from the 1.28 million foreign workers now forming about 2 percent of the workforce.
Workers in the first visa category must have a certain level of skills and Japanese language ability. They would not be allowed to bring family members for a stay of up to five years.
But those with higher skills, in the second category, could bring family and eventually get residency.
Japan has grown more accepting of foreign labor but the focus has been on professionals and the highly skilled.
For blue-collar workers, employers mostly rely on a “technical trainees” system and foreign students working part-time, loopholes critics say are abused.


“Today it is quite difficult for foreigners to get ... jobs as security guards,” said Shigeki Yawata, security manager at security firm Executive Protection Inc, which has employed non-Japanese for more than a dozen years. “The Olympic Games are coming up and the government is working on inbound tourism, so we would like to have more foreigners, too.”
LDP lawmakers signed off on the bill after heated party debate. Many expressed concerns about crime and a negative effect on wages. Opposition politicians accuse the government of undue haste without protecting foreign workers’ rights.

More at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-j...KCN1N703I?il=0

[Danke]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet approved draft legislation on Friday to open the door to more overseas blue-collar workers in sectors grappling with labor shortages, a controversial policy shift in immigration-shy Japan.

Japan’s immigration debate is heating up even as U.S. President Donald Trump puts the topic front and center for next week’s Congressional mid-term elections.
Immigration has long been taboo as many Japanese prize ethnic homogeneity, but the reality of an aging, shrinking population is challenging such views.
Despite misgivings in Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), parliament is likely to adopt the revisions in the face of intense pressure from businesses battling the tightest labor market in decades, although opposition parties could delay.


The revised law would create two new visa categories for foreigners in sectors with labor shortages. While not spelt out, they are expected to be more than a dozen, from farming and construction to hotels and nursing care.
Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita on Thursday ruled out a numerical cap, but media said 500,000 blue-collar workers could be allowed in over time, up 40 percent from the 1.28 million foreign workers now forming about 2 percent of the workforce.
Workers in the first visa category must have a certain level of skills and Japanese language ability. They would not be allowed to bring family members for a stay of up to five years.
But those with higher skills, in the second category, could bring family and eventually get residency.
Japan has grown more accepting of foreign labor but the focus has been on professionals and the highly skilled.
For blue-collar workers, employers mostly rely on a “technical trainees” system and foreign students working part-time, loopholes critics say are abused.


“Today it is quite difficult for foreigners to get ... jobs as security guards,” said Shigeki Yawata, security manager at security firm Executive Protection Inc, which has employed non-Japanese for more than a dozen years. “The Olympic Games are coming up and the government is working on inbound tourism, so we would like to have more foreigners, too.”
LDP lawmakers signed off on the bill after heated party debate. Many expressed concerns about crime and a negative effect on wages. Opposition politicians accuse the government of undue haste without protecting foreign workers’ rights.

More at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-j...KCN1N703I?il=0

Been going to Japan for over 35 years. Never felt unsafe anywhere.

Well, things are a changing. We had a couple of fellow employees go into a bar in Tokyo. The Nigerians working their served them some beers.

Turned out they were spiked drinks.

Ended up unconscious, naked, robbed with the $#@! having beaten out of them.

[Swordsmyth]

Been going to Japan for over 35 years. Never felt unsafe anywhere.

Well, things are a changing. We had a couple of fellow employees go into a bar in Tokyo. The Nigerians working their served them some beers.

Turned out they were spiked drinks.

Ended up unconscious, naked, robbed with the $#@! having beaten out of them.

Why did you spike their drinks?

[Swordsmyth]

Japanese lawmakers early Saturday approved government-proposed legislation allowing hundreds of thousands of foreign laborers to live and work in a country that has long resisted accepting outsiders.The contentious legislation passed only months after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proposed the plan despite opposition groups' demand for more thorough debate to address concerns about a drastic change of policy.
It's seen as an unavoidable step as the country's population of about 126 million rapidly ages and shrinks. Many short-handed industries, especially in the services sector, already rely heavily on foreign "trainees" and language students. Japan also selectively grants visas to white-collar professionals, often from the West.
Bringing in foreign laborers is a last resort after Abe's deeply conservative government tried to meet labor shortages by encouraging more employment of women and older workers and using more robots and other automation.
"Japan has come to a point where we had to face the reality that there is serious depopulation and serious aging," said Toshihiro Menju, an expert on foreign labor and population issues at the Japan Center for International Exchange.
"Shortages of workers are so serious ... that (allowing) immigrants is the only option the government can take," he said.
Abe's latest plan calls for relaxing Japan's visa requirements in sectors facing severe labor shortages such as construction, nursing, farming, transport and tourism — new categories of jobs to be added to the current list of highly skilled professionals.
The number of foreign workers in Japan has more than doubled since 2000 to nearly 1.3 million last year, out of a working-age population of 67 million. Workers from developing Asian countries used to stay mostly behind the scenes, but not anymore. Almost all convenience stores are partly staffed by Asian workers and so are many restaurant chains.
The fastest growing group of foreign workers is Vietnamese, many of whom are employed in construction and nursing. Construction workers are particularly in demand as Japan rushes to finish building venues and other infrastructure for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.


Under the legislation, two categories of workers will be accepted beginning in April: less-skilled workers and former interns with basic Japanese competency are allowed to stay in the country for only up to five years as visitors and cannot bring in family members. That is meant to encourage them to leave when their visas expire, preventing them from settling in Japan.
The second category, those with higher skills, Japanese language and cultural understanding, would be allowed to bring their families and apply for citizenship after living in Japan for 10 years if they commit no crimes.
"Creating new visa statuses to accommodate foreign human resources is our urgent task as we face serious labor shortages, especially at small and medium-size companies," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Friday.
But details including a new immigration agency, competency tests for applicants and ways to eliminate abusive working conditions still need to be decided.
Many Japanese understand the need to solve labor shortages. Industry groups have urged the government to expand the work visa program so they can legally hire more foreign workers.
But Abe's traditional political base and opposition groups oppose the change — for different reasons.
Abe has denied that Japan is opening the door to immigrants. His right-wing supporters view Japan as a homogenous society and want to keep out outsiders, especially those from other Asian countries. They cite concerns over risks of more crime.

More at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/shrinking...085936326.html