Japan's foreign workers surpass 2m for first time, led by Vietnamese

[Viet]

A Vietnamese welder works in Japan. (Photo by Shugo Tamura)

 

[Viet]

The labor ministry announced Friday that, as of the end of October, there were 2,048,675 foreign workers in the nation, an increase of 225,950 from a year before. The report also showed an increase in the number of technical trainees, a figure that had decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Vietnamese people take Japanese lessons in Hanoi in June 2023 before heading to Japan to work. | KYODO


The number of foreign workers in Japan has surpassed 2 million for the first time, reaching a record high, as the nation grapples with a worsening labor shortage.

The number of workplaces employing foreign workers increased to 318,775, up 19,985 from the previous year and also a record high.

Tokyo had the largest population of foreign workers, followed by Aichi and Osaka prefectures.

The number of foreign workers has hit a record high every year since 2013, but in 2023 the year-on-year increase was 12.4%, much higher than the 5.5% rise marked the previous year.

People from Vietnam accounted for the highest number of foreign workers at 518,364, or 25.3% of the total, followed by those from China at 397,918 (19.4%) and the Philippines at 226,846 (11.1%).




A Mongolian trainee takes care of a patient at a hospital in Tokyo in April 2023. | KYODO


The number of foreign workers was highest in the manufacturing sector, representing 27% of the total. The number working in the construction sector saw the largest increase, rising 24.1%.

Among workplaces that were employing foreign nationals, those with fewer than 30 employees made up the majority, at 61.9%, with the number of such businesses up 7.5%, the largest increase among all workplaces hiring non-Japanese workers.

By residence status, those in specialized and technical professions saw a 24.2% increase, totaling 595,904, while the number of technical interns increased by 20.2% to reach 412,501.

The category of "designated activities," which includes working holidays, witnessed a 2.3% decrease, totaling 71,676 individuals.

Amid the rebound in the number of foreign trainees coming to the country, the government plans to submit a bill in the current parliamentary session to establish a new technical intern program, due to concerns over human rights violations.

A government panel in November proposed scrapping the current system and introducing various changes, including allowing workers to switch jobs under certain conditions.

Immigration Services Agency data showed that 9,006 foreign technical interns went missing in 2022, the second-highest number after the 2018 figure of 9,052. These workers fled their work before the end of their contracts, with this believed by the agency to be because of factors such as not having been paid wages, poor working conditions or taking on unapproved jobs.

Number of foreign workers in Japan surpasses 2 million for first time

Tokyo has the largest population of foreign workers, followed by Aichi and Osaka prefectures.

www.japantimes.co.jp

 

[Waz]

Vietnamese are solid workers , East Asian (similar values) and should be a good fit. Others like Indonesians, Mongolians etc have fitted in well. Japan's population face disaster and they need some short-term measures.

 

[Yommie]

It's good for Japan's work force but it does look like Japan won't be a homogeneous nation anymore.

 

[AViet]

I do not like Japanese (and AFAIK, so do any Vietnamese who have worked with Japanese in Vietnam, at least from managerial level), for their stupidly arrogant attitude (which lead to a lot of quality problems), poor engineering and construction quality of most, if not all, engineering projects in Vietnam which involved Japanese fund and Japanese contractors, from ring road 3 in Hanoi, Can Tho Bridge, Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien metro line, Da Nang - Quang Ngai expressway, Nghi Son refinery etc.

In addition, Japanese uses extensively local media to cover their criminals. Even the most shitty projects like Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien metro line, are praised by local media portals like Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre, in which all faults by Japanese sides are silenced and hidden, while faults from Vietnamese side are highlighted. Sickening.

However, we can still learn their disciplines and work ethics from the Japanese.

 

[nang2]

Anyone has a link to show how Japanese in Vietnamese accent would sound like?

 

[8888888888888]

Look like Japan has no choice due to population decline.

 

[Yellow is Okay]

Anyone has a link to show how Japanese in Vietnamese accent would sound like?

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[Viet]

Look like Japan has no choice due to population decline.

Japan is a hopeless case. Their population shrinks faster than whatever influx from foreigners least the Viet people. But seems Korea is a more hopeless case. Soon they will follow the dinosaurs. Will probably happen to China, too, just less extreme.