One of the major issues that the Japanese government has to deal with is labor shortage. With the apparent decline in the workforce brought about by the country’s aging population and low birth rate, numerous commercial establishments and industries in Japan are in need of skilled workers to keep their business operations going. It cannot be denied that the Land of the Rising Sun offers various employment opportunities both for locals and foreign job applicants in different sectors of the economy.
In recent decades, a lot of Japanese companies are left with no choice but to rely on foreign workers consisting of technical training interns and international students in order to resolve the serious manpower shortage in the country. In effect, the number of foreign workers in Japan has tremendously increased over the last few years. Survey shows that one out of fifty people who are currently employed in Japan are foreigners. International students and foreigners who take part in the Technical Intern Training Program make up about 250,000 each of the total number of foreign workers in Japan.
With the influx of international tourists all over the globe who come to visit Japan year in and year out, the hotel industry is one of the economic sectors that is expanding at a swift rate. However, the working population in the country is not sufficient to meet the demands of this fast-growing industry.
In order to address this issue, the Japanese government seeks to include the hotel industry among the sectors covered by the technical intern program for foreign nationals in the country. Before adopting this plan, the government will be conducting several public consultations to know the opinion of the majority with regard to bringing in international trainees in the hotel industry. If the policy will push through, foreigners who participate in Technical Intern Training Programs sponsored by the government will be allowed to seek employment in hotels for up to five years.
Reference:
Japanese government seeks public comment on plan to bring foreign trainees into hotel sector
Coming to grips at last with Japan’s labor shortage
