A panel of government advisers in Japan has recommended that the country should consider abolishing the foreign “technical intern” system, which is frequently used as a channel for cheap labor from overseas, and replace it with a more practical framework. The system should be replaced with a program aimed at attracting foreign workers, not just providing training to support developing nations, the panel said.
The participants in the program should be given more freedom to switch jobs in Japan and provided with additional help to develop language skills. With the country’s population aging and shrinking, Japan may face a shortfall of more than 11 million workers by 2040, according to a report by the independent think tank, Recruit Works Institute. The panel recommended stronger measures to tackle cases of coercion, including where workers were saddled with unmanageable debts to brokers in their home countries.