Japanese businesses support immigration of low-skilled foreign labor, says Reuters poll
Three-quarters of Japanese companies polled by Reuters support opening the country up to more foreign workers in low-skilled jobs to offset a rapidly declining labor force.
With one-quarter of Japan’s population already over 65 years of age, the country is grappling with a severe lack of workers, especially in the construction industry, farming, and elderly care. The shortage in the construction industry is of particular concern as it has left companies struggling to meet demand for new projects tied to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and reconstruction work in areas affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
However, rather than taking significant steps to allow in more low-skilled foreign workers who could address these shortages, the government, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has instead focused on relaxing requirements for high-skilled foreigners and promoted policies that encourage the participation of women and the elderly in the workforce.
Foreign workers accounted for only 1% of Japan’s total labor force in 2012, according to government data.
At the top of the list of concerns expressed by those against the entry of low-skilled foreign workers are language and cultural issues; however, comments from those in favor show that many managers believe that taking in more low-skilled foreign labor is inevitable and it is time to debate rules and mechanisms to facilitate such a change.
Our editor-in-chief, Klaus F. Zimmermann, has written about circular migration for IZA World of Labor, noting that although in the popular immigration narrative migrants leave one country and establish themselves permanently in another, in reality, migration is typically temporary: Workers migrate, find employment, and then return home or move on, often multiple times. Sending countries benefit from the remittance payments foreign workers send home whilst abroad and from enhanced human capital when they return home, while receiving countries fill labor shortages. Impeding circular migration—practiced most commonly by young, low-skilled men without dependents—can therefore be costly to both sending and receiving countries.
Alicía Adserà has researched language and culture as drivers of migration, observing that “Fluency in the language of the destination country—and ease of learning it—can facilitate the transfer of migrants’ skills to the new labor market, contributing to the global interchange of skills and stimulating economic growth.” She concludes that “Policies promoting instruction in foreign languages can foster the international mobility of workers, with potentially large individual and social returns through increased worker productivity and quicker socio-economic integration of new arrivals.”
Reuters’ report on the poll can be found here.
Related articles:
Circular migration, by Klaus F. Zimmermann
Language and culture as drivers of migration, by Alicía Adserà
Freedom of movement for workers, by John Kennan