A government-approved foreign trainee program in Japan is now under disputes; the current system is implemented to acquire cheap laborers from overseas involving in simple jobs. It bases on labor exploitation of intermediaries. Thus, the program can easily lead to violation of the human rights. The so-called Technical Intern Training Program should be abolished instead of a thorough reviewing which the former minister of justice instructed.
ELIMINATE THE PROGRAM, NOT REVIEW IT
The Technical Intern Training Program for foreigners was set up with an objective to transfer skills and techniques to the economically emerging countries and to contribute to human resource development there.
The objective is right, but, in fact, the program is a tool to procure unskilled cheap workers from other nations. In addition, the institution constitutes a hotbed where wages to be paid are below the minimum level, a practice of long working hours is routine, and violence and violation of the basic rights are prevailed.
A full-scale review?
Criticisms have been loud, coming from both inside and outside of Japan. Minister of Justice Furukawa Yoshihisa (then) announced his policy in the press meeting held July 29 to make a full review of the program.
The condemnations point out that there are many who commit in exploitation of foreign workers: they are local brokers for recruitment from sending countries and those Japanese employment agents who receive foreigners and dispatch them to small businesses here, who are called ‘a controlling organization’.
You will fail, if you intensify surveillance over the human rights practices or enhance penalty in order to solve the problems without tackling the existence of midway exploiters. With the intermediary exploitation is kept intact, wages to be paid to workers are deducted invariably. The sole way to evade that is to end the program itself.
Residential status of ‘specified skilled workers’
Separate from the above-mentioned trainee program, a new status of residence was established in 2019, which is called ‘the status of specified skilled workers’. The objective is to replenish insufficient workforce here. In other words, it serves to hire workers, or to acquire cheap foreign laborers. The new visa status is to be offered to those foreigners who have completed the three-year training course or the five-year’s one.
However, only 50 thousand foreigners have had the status today as the fields are limited to 14 sectors where labor force is extremely deficient. The number is very low, compared with the total figure of approximately 280 thousand who are trainees here in Japan.
Some people request to end the technical intern program and to unify the residential status into a single specific skill program. The idea, however, is unacceptable.
Small enterprises need workforce, or they want low wage manual workers that Japanese do not want to be. As far as employers here let them work with the level of minimum wage, troubles certainly emerge, even if the visa status is unified. This is the reason.
Raise the minimum wage!
If the Japanese government allows to procure a massive number of foreign cheap workers, wages of Japanese workers in the bottom of labor market will not be surged, and at the same time efforts to heighten labor productivity to be made by small business entities will not be encouraged, either.
What must be done along with abolition of the foreigners’ training program is to make a drastic raise of the minimum wage and to provide decent working environments where all workers in the country can work soundly.
外国人「技能実習」制度は、技能・技術等を開発途上地域等へ移転し、そこの人材育成に寄与する目的でつくられた。
目的は立派だが、実態は外国人の非熟練低賃金労働力の調達手段である。しかも最低賃金以下の賃金、長時間労働の強要、暴行など、人権侵害の温床となっている。
本格的な見直し？
内外から厳しい批判を受けて、古川禎久法相（当時）は７月29日の記者会見で、本格的に見直すことを表明した。
外国人労働者の搾取に群がる者がいる。募集等にあたる現地のブローカーであり、また外国人労働者を受け入れて小零細企業に配分する、日本国内の「監理団体」などである。
中間搾取の存在に手をつけずに人権侵害の監視や罰則を強化しても、解決は見込めない。中間搾取がある限り、実際に支払われる賃金は引き下げられるからだ。制度を廃止する以外にない。
「特定技能」制度
「技能実習」とは別に、２０１９年に在留資格「特定技能」が設けられた。この新制度の目的は人手不足を補うこと、すなわち就労であり、外国人の低賃金労働力の調達である。
この「特定技能」の「第一号」は、３年または５年の「技能実習」を終えた外国人労働者に与えられる資格である。
しかし、これまでのところ対象業種が、労働力不足が深刻な14業種に限定されているため、まだ約５万人にしか与えられていない。「技能実習」の約28万人と比べて少ない。
「技能実習」制度を廃止して、「特定技能」制度に一本化すべきとの主張があるが、賛成できない。
小零細企業が欲しがっているのは、日本の労働者が働きたがらない単純労働分野での低賃金労働力である。「特定技能」に一本化しても、最低賃金レベルで働かせようとする限り、必ず問題が起こるからである。
最賃の引上げを！
大量の低賃金の単純労働力を外国から調達できる限り、日本の労働市場の底辺で働く労働者の賃金は上がらないし、小零細企業の生産性向上の努力は刺激されない。
「技能実習」制度の廃止とともにやるべきことは、最低賃金の大幅引上げであり、国内の労働者が働けるような労働環境の整備である。
英訳版↓
No. 1274 Technical Intern Training Program
A government-approved foreign trainee program in Japan is now under disputes; the current system is implemented to acquire cheap laborers from overseas involving in simple jobs. It bases on labor exploitation of intermediaries. Thus, the program can easily lead to violation of the human rights. The so-called Technical Intern Training Program should be abolished instead of a thorough reviewing which the former minister of justice instructed.
ELIMINATE THE PROGRAM, NOT REVIEW IT
The Technical Intern Training Program for foreigners was set up with an objective to transfer skills and techniques to the economically emerging countries and to contribute to human resource development there.
The objective is right, but, in fact, the program is a tool to procure unskilled cheap workers from other nations. In addition, the institution constitutes a hotbed where wages to be paid are below the minimum level, a practice of long working hours is routine, and violence and violation of the basic rights are prevailed.
A full-scale review?
Criticisms have been loud, coming from both inside and outside of Japan. Minister of Justice Furukawa Yoshihisa (then) announced his policy in the press meeting held July 29 to make a full review of the program.
The condemnations point out that there are many who commit in exploitation of foreign workers: they are local brokers for recruitment from sending countries and those Japanese employment agents who receive foreigners and dispatch them to small businesses here, who are called ‘a controlling organization’.
You will fail, if you intensify surveillance over the human rights practices or enhance penalty in order to solve the problems without tackling the existence of midway exploiters. With the intermediary exploitation is kept intact, wages to be paid to workers are deducted invariably. The sole way to evade that is to end the program itself.
Residential status of ‘specified skilled workers’
Separate from the above-mentioned trainee program, a new status of residence was established in 2019, which is called ‘the status of specified skilled workers’. The objective is to replenish insufficient workforce here. In other words, it serves to hire workers, or to acquire cheap foreign laborers. The new visa status is to be offered to those foreigners who have completed the three-year training course or the five-year’s one.
However, only 50 thousand foreigners have had the status today as the fields are limited to 14 sectors where labor force is extremely deficient. The number is very low, compared with the total figure of approximately 280 thousand who are trainees here in Japan.
Some people request to end the technical intern program and to unify the residential status into a single specific skill program. The idea, however, is unacceptable.
Small enterprises need workforce, or they want low wage manual workers that Japanese do not want to be. As far as employers here let them work with the level of minimum wage, troubles certainly emerge, even if the visa status is unified. This is the reason.
Raise the minimum wage!
If the Japanese government allows to procure a massive number of foreign cheap workers, wages of Japanese workers in the bottom of labor market will not be surged, and at the same time efforts to heighten labor productivity to be made by small business entities will not be encouraged, either.
What must be done along with abolition of the foreigners’ training program is to make a drastic raise of the minimum wage and to provide decent working environments where all workers in the country can work soundly.
September 14, 2022