JAPAN FIRMS WELCOME SKILLED FOREIGNERS
They are aware of need to accept immigrants but not unskilled labourers, survey shows
MOST Japanese companies support loosening the country’s tight immigration system to cope with a severe labour shortage, but they favour skilled workers who can fit into the workplace, not an influx of unskilled labourers, a Reuters poll shows.
The labour market in fast-ageing Japan is its tightest in nearly half a century and the government has cracked open the door to allow foreigners to work in such areas as farming, at car factories and in convenience stores.
But in a society that has long prized its homogeneity, the government insists these steps do not amount to open immigration.
The Reuters Corporate Survey found that Japanese firms make a distinction between foreigners allowed to work because they pass suitability tests and unskilled immigrants.
The government in June unveiled plans to allow five-year work permits for foreigners in certain categories. Authorities are also considering allowing foreign workers who pass certain tests to stay indefinitely and bring their families — major changes for Japan.
The monthly Reuters poll found 57 per cent of big and midsized firms employ foreigners and 60 per cent favour more open immigration. But just 38 per cent favoured allowing unskilled workers into the country.
“Overall, Japanese firms remain cautious about accepting foreign workers,” said Yoshiyuki Suimon, an economist at Nomura Securities.
“They are aware of the need to accept immigrants in the long run, but for now they are trying to cope with labour shortages through investment in automation and technology.”
The poll canvassed 483 businesses with capital of at least one billion yen (RM36.9 million).
The number of foreigners in Japan has more than doubled in the past decade to 1.3 million, but that remains below two per cent of the total labour force, compared to 10 per cent in Britain, 38 per cent in Singapore and two per cent in South Korea.