Issues relating to foreign workers in Japan

As birthrates continue to fall, it is clear that both Japan's population and the number of people of working age (aged between 15 and 64) face an imminent decline. To maintain current production capabilities, Japan must secure more workers as an issue of extreme urgency.

Most people predict that Japan, an island country perceived to have an ethnically homogenous population, cannot do without foreign workers.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, a total of approximately 740,000 legal and illegal foreign nationals were employed in Japan in 2003. The government has so far allowed only non-Japanese nationals with advanced IT or other knowledge and skills to work in Japan. It accepted a total of 116,898 such individuals in 2003. However, the government is now faced with two challenges: to decide whether or not to open Japan's doors to workers with no specialized knowledge and skills, and to consider ways to secure more non-Japanese specialists to cope with an increasingly globalizing economy.

How does the general public perceive this issue?

Many people feel that, on account of the lingering recession, priority should be given to ensuring the employment of Japanese workers. Such people oppose the policy of actively increasing the employment of foreign nationals, which may deprive Japanese people of employment opportunities.

On the other hand, many managers express a desire to hire foreign workers as cheap labor. They are somewhat indifferent to the fact that this would impose a substantial burden on the Japanese public in terms of social costs related to accommodating foreign nationals.

Many foreign workers are not covered by medical and other insurance programs, a problem that not only calls into question the awareness of the foreigners themselves, but also of employers who are reluctant to shoulder the expenses.

As we reported in our previous issue, the government plans to hold discussions on the social security system in order to formulate a comprehensive reform plan. The issue of how to position foreign workers constitutes an important aspect of this plan. There is a need to change our social security system--which is complicated and tedious even for Japanese nationals--to ensure that it is easy to understand also for foreign workers.

Of course, unless other pressing issues are addressed―such as gender equality in the workplace, long working hours seen in some companies, and the excessively diploma-oriented society―foreign nationals may continue to hold negative perceptions of working in Japan.

It is hoped that an environment conductive to foreign workers will be established, as such a working environment would also benefit Japanese workers.