Some 40 percent of highly skilled foreign workers choose to remain in Japan, a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed Thursday, with the relatively high rate benefitting the Asian nation struggling with a labor shortage.
In its first review of Japan's labor migration policy, the OECD also highlighted controversial aspects of the country's foreign technical intern program, which the government plans to revamp amid criticism that the program has provided cover for companies seeking to import cheap labor from Asia and fostered conditions conducive to human rights violations.
According to the report, compiled with the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, half of the approximately 3 million foreigners living in 2022 were permanent residents.
The other half consisted, for the most part, of temporary labor migrants and their families, technical interns, and international students.
Among foreigners who first entered Japan between 2011 and 2017 as skilled labor migrants with visas to work as engineers or office workers, 40 percent remained in the country five years later.
"Given that this group of migrants includes many highly mobile migrants, such as intracompany transferees, this is rather high and suggests that Japan can benefit from long-term contribution to the skilled labor supply through these channels," the report said.
The report also said Japan has a high retention rate of international students, with 30 to 40 percent remaining in Japan five years after arrival.
The retention rate was higher than that of many European countries, including Switzerland, the Netherlands and Britain, although it trailed behind Canada and Germany.
With many skilled labor migrants in Japan first entering the country as international students and later changing their residence status, the report underscored the importance of their presence as "key players for Japan's strategy to attract and retain global talent."
However, it noted that job hunting remains a challenge for international students, as few universities provide specific support for them in finding internships during their enrollment.
On Japan's Technical Intern Training Program, introduced in 1993 with the aim of transferring skills to developing nations, the OECD said the system has "been largely used to meet labor demand, rather than for skills transfer."
The report said excessive fees and the practice of using brokers in the sending countries have led to trainees arriving already burdened with debt, while restricted employer mobility has impeded wage growth and, in the most severe instances, left trainees "vulnerable to exploitation."
In 2022, there were 325,000 technical interns in Japan, it said.
While the government plans to introduce a system to encourage workers from abroad to stay longer with better rights protection, the OECD report said any reform should retain the support mechanism of the existing trainee program, touching on supervising organizations that have provided initial orientation and training and have monitored the work experience of the employees.
Related coverage:
Over 80,000 foreigners working at convenience stores in Japan
Around 68,000 elderly die alone in Japan annually: police
Japan job availability down to 1.29 in FY 2023, 1st fall in 3 yrs
