New poll reveals employers' woes in foreign employment system
Companies in Japan are employing foreign workers to fill labour shortages, according to a new report, as the country's population challenges take a toll on employment.
A survey from Begin Gyōsei Shoshi Jimusho among 1,000 company managers and executives revealed that 26.8% are currently employing foreign workers, Nippon.com reported.
The top reason for employing foreign workers is to fill labour shortages, as cited by 42.1% of the respondents.
More than a third also said they want to benefit from specific business skills and knowledge (38.4%) and to respond to overseas expansion (36.5%). Others attributed foreign employment to:
- Stimulate the workforce
- Economic benefits
- Use government systems and support
Foreign employment adds to Japanese employers' growing list of measures to fill in gaps amid a labour shortage, which previous estimates indicate could reach 3.84 million workers by 2035.
Employers have also been retaining their older workers and boosting hiring for new graduates recently.
Foreign employment challenges
But hiring foreign employees comes with several challenges, with linguistic and cultural barriers emerging on top, according to the Nippon.com report.
The complexity of status of residency procedures was also cited as the second-highest challenge for Japanese employers, where 23.8% of respondents with foreign workers said they have "inadequate understanding" of the residence system.
Meanwhile, other foreign employment challenges include labour management and turnover risk. Other employers said:
- Turnover risk
- Inadequate internal support system
- Recruitment and training costs
- Lack of knowledge regarding recruitment
The challenge on residency procedures comes as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged to properly operate the country's foreign workers programmes, Kyodo News reported.
Japan has a Specified Skilled Worker system that grants foreigners up to a five-year stay or a pathway to become a permanent resident.
It also has an upcoming Employment for Skill Development initiative that will replace in April 2027 its Technical Intern Training Programme, which has been criticised for alleged exploitation of participants.
