According to Kyodo news agency, the Japanese government has decided to change the foreign technical intern program, marking a significant shift in its approach to foreign workers to attract workers to supplement the shrinking labor force.
The Japanese government has approved a plan to scrap the current foreign trainee program, replacing it with a system geared toward teaching skills and protecting trainees' rights.
The new system allows foreign workers to stay longer. Trainees with three-year visas will be upgraded to skilled workers, allowing them to stay in Japan for up to five years and potentially gain permanent residency.
The new system also allows workers to change employers within the same industry after working in Japan for one to two years. The time allowed to change to a new job will vary depending on the type of job. The Japanese government hopes that the new system will secure and develop essential foreign workers to address Japan's current labor shortage, which is getting worse.
Japan's current technical intern training program was introduced in 1993, as a way to transfer technological skills to developing countries, through vocational training for young people from many countries.
According to Japanese government data, as of June 2023, nearly 360,000 foreign workers participated in the technical intern program, including Vietnamese workers, followed by Indonesians and the Philippines.
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