Japan approves new policy for employment of Asian workers

The Japanese government has pushed through a new immigration policy which will cover workers from China, Indonesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, to take effect in April.

The new policy will provide visas for blue collar foreign workers with skills in 14 industrial sectors, intended to address the nation’s considerable talent crunch.

It is estimated that some 345,000 foreign workers will be employed in sectors such as janitorial, manufacturing, hospitality, agricultural, fishing, and food processing under the scheme in the next five years alone.

The government will also introduce a wide-ranging set of measures that aim to support the selection and support of such foreign workers, including computer-based testing of potential applicants and the ramping up Japanese language teaching services.