Japan is expected to accept up to 60,000 foreign workers in the nursing care sector in the next five years as response to the country’s labor shortage.
The nursing care sector is hiring the most number of foreign workers while the food services sector is expected to accept 53,000 workers, reported Japan Today.
Construction sector (40,000 workers), cleaning business sector (37,000 workers), and farming sector (36,500 workers) are also expected to hire foreign workers.
Other sectors affected by the labor shortage include industrial machinery, electronics, shipbuilding, auto maintenance, components production, airlines, accommodation, fishing as well as food and beverage production.
The estimates were released as a part of the crafting of the bill which would create new visa statuses to accept blue-collar foreign workers in the country. The bill is a response to the shortage in labor force linked to the aging and dwindling population of the country.
When passed, Japan expects 47,550 foreign workers to enter the country in the first year of implementation and 345,150 workers in the next five years. The bill is expected to be implemented in April 2019.
Photo credit: Japan Times
