News Japan's foreign workers see largest year-on-year increase

[thomas]

Japan saw a record increase of 250,000 foreign workers in the past year, to 2.3 million in October. This is the largest jump since 2008 and reflects efforts to address labour shortages by hiring overseas. Foreign workers now make up 3.4% of Japan's workforce. The sectors with the highest growth in foreign workers are medical and welfare (28.1% increase), construction (22.7%), and accommodation and food services (16.9%). The manufacturing sector employs a majority of foreign workers (590,000), followed by services (350,000) and wholesale and retail (290,000).

By type of residency status, professional and technical fields, which include manufacturing engineers and care workers, ranked first with a 20.6% rise to 710,000. The number of foreigners in the specified skilled worker program climbed 49.4% to 200,000. People on the technical intern training program, which brings relatively unskilled workers to the country to learn new skills, grew 14.1% to 470,000. By nationality, Vietnam accounted for 24.8% of the total with 570,000, followed by China with 400,000, and the Philippines with 240,000. "Workers from Southeast Asia are choosing Japan over South Korea, Taiwan and other places due to factors like visa programs and public safety," said a labor ministry official. The Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training estimated last year that there would be 2.3 million to 2.36 million foreign workers in 2025. The most recent figure of 2.3 million in October shows that the actual numbers are trending slightly above estimates.

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Japan logs largest-ever jump in foreign workers

Total hits 2.3m as foreigners make up 3.4% of workforce

asia.nikkei.com

 

[mdchachi]

If they want a Mexican & Latin America workforce, Trump is trying to ensure there is an ample supply by displacing all of the ones here in the U.S.