Japan Registered 1.82 Million Foreign Workers in 2023, notwithstanding the COVID-19 Circumstances

As of the last lap of October 2023, 1.8 million international workers were registered in Japan, which moves it to a 5.5 percent increase against the statistics of 2021. The statistics were made available by the government of Japan.

The 2023 statistics prove that Japan was able to attract many foreign workers in the face of COVID-19 and its negative impact on the global economy. Although the increase is worthy of praise, it was not up to the 13.5 percent increase experienced in the pre-coronavirus years. Thus, an official in the Ministry of Labor noted that the decrease in the number of foreign workers came into play in 2020, which was the pandemic’s peak.

In essence, the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the Japanese workforce and its ability to employ foreign workers. Hwever, as thevirus is giving, there is hope that more foreign workers will find their way into the country.

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Besides, Vietnam, China, and the Philippines nationals topped the scale in the number of international workers registered in Japan in 2023. Here is the percentage:

• Vietnam – 25.4%
• China – 385,848 or 21.2%
• Philippine – 206,050 or 11.3%

It was also on the news that 298,790 employees or businesses employed these foreign workers, which marked an additional 4.8 percent. These businesses are majorly those with fewer than 30 employees, as they account for more than 90 percent of companies in Japan. They had around 61.4 percent of the workers are from outside the country.

Furthermore, foreign workers in the manufacturing sector accounted for one-fourth percent of the total, around 4.2 percent, for the first time in three years. Industries like wholesale and retail accounted for a 3.9 percent increase in international workers, while restaurant and tourism accounted for a 2.7 percent increase.

As a Japan Times report recorded, holders of specialist and engineer visas made up 21a .7 percent increase to 479,949 foreign workers registered. The permanent residents and spouses of Japanese citizens made up of 2.6 percent increase to 595,207 people.

In addition, a sharp decline was recorded in other sectors. This included the technical interns, which recorded 343,254 people or only a one percent increase. By city, Tokyo recorded the highest percentage of foreign workers, numbering 500,089 people. This was followed by Achi Prefecture with 188,691 international workers and Osaka Prefecture with 14,570 people.

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