Japan: Minister Kimi Onoda Says Cap on Specified Skilled Workers Should Shrink Over Time
Kimi Onoda, Japan's minister for policy on foreign nationals, said on November 2 that Japan should eventually reduce, rather than raise, its cap on foreign workers admitted under the Specified Skilled Worker programme, arguing that as super intelligence (SI) and other technologies advance and the labour market improves, the country will not need to accept so many workers under the scheme.
The programme, designed to fill labour shortages, sets sector-specific intake caps, with Specified Skilled Worker No. 1 allowing a stay of up to five years. The issue has already come to a head in food service: the government halted new admissions after projections in April showed the sector would reach its cap. In May, the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other groups urged the government to consider reviewing the cap when there are legitimate grounds to do so.
Onoda said the programme is a system for cases where workers are still not enough even after efforts to improve productivity, make use of domestic human resources and improve working conditions, and that the discussion should not simply be about increasing intake because of shortages. She noted that some workers move on to the No. 2 status for more highly skilled workers, which has no effective limit on stay or numbers. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration has pledged tighter policies on foreign nationals, and a government expert panel is reviewing Japan's overall approach to accepting them.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 照片：东京涩谷站的通勤人流（资料图），Joi Ito 摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 2.0 授权 / Photo: Commuters at Shibuya Station in Tokyo (file photo), by Joi Ito, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
