Japan to OK divisive bill allowing more foreign workers

TOKYO >> Japan is preparing to officially open the door to foreign workers to do unskilled jobs and possibly eventually become citizens.

Lawmakers were to vote early Saturday on government-proposed legislation allowing hundreds of thousands of foreign laborers to live and work in a country that has long resisted accepting outsiders. The bill is expected to pass because of the ruling party’s majority in parliament.

It’s seen as an unavoidable step as the country’s population of about 126 million rapidly ages and shrinks.

Many short-handed industries, especially in the services sector, already rely heavily on foreign “trainees” and language students. The country also selectively grants visas to white-collar professionals, often from the west.

Bringing in foreign laborers is a last resort after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s deeply conservative government tried to meet labor shortages by encouraging more employment of women and older workers and using more robots and other automation.

“Japan has come to a point where we had to face the reality that there is serious depopulation and serious aging,” said Toshihiro Menju, an expert on foreign labor and population issues at the Japan Center for International Exchange.

“Shortages of workers are so serious ... that (allowing) immigrants is the only option the government can take,” he said.

Abe’s latest plan calls for relaxing Japan’s visa requirements in sectors facing severe labor shortages such as construction, nursing, farming, transport and tourism — new categories of jobs to be added to the current list of highly skilled professionals.

The number of foreign workers in Japan has more than doubled since 2000 to nearly 1.3 million last year, out of a working-age population of 67 million. Workers from developing Asian countries used to stay mostly behind the scenes, but not anymore. Almost all convenience stores are partly staffed by Asian workers and so are many restaurant chains.