Photo/Illutration An experts panel of the government discusses a new foreign worker program on Feb. 6 in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. (Kazumichi Kubota)

Measures will be added to the system that will replace the highly-criticized technical intern trainee program to prevent problems from arising even before the workers enter Japan.

An expert committee of the government met for the first time on Feb. 6 to discuss the draft of the replacement program scheduled for introduction by 2027.

Some targets in the discussions for the draft were recruiting agents in the home countries of the workers.

Under the technical trainee program, workers often must pay huge “introduction fees” to recruiting companies in their homelands just to enter the Japanese government program.

Many arrive in Japan saddled with debts and desperate to make quick money.

The expert committee suggested limiting such introduction fees to the equivalent of two months of the worker’s expected salary in Japan.

The average introduction fee paid by technical trainees exceeds 500,000 yen ($3,300), but some have reported paying much more than that amount, according to the government’s research.

Under the technical trainee program, the interns cannot change workplaces on their own during their first three years of work in Japan.

Many trainees have gone missing after being exploited or abused by their employers. Those in debt have also fled their workplaces in search of higher wages.

The new system will allow workers to change to a similar job type within one to two years of starting work in Japan.

When a worker transfers to another company, it will compensate the original employer for the initial costs of accepting the worker, according to the draft.

The draft included the idea that compensation should be greater if the worker spent only a short period at the original company.

To prevent companies from excessively recruiting foreign workers, the draft recommended a limit on the number of transfers one company can receive from other companies.

Essentially, the number of transfers must be less than one-third of the number of workers originally hired by the company under the new training system, according to the draft.

To ease concerns that foreign workers will be concentrated in big cities where wages are higher, the draft recommends limiting transfers from rural areas to urban centers.

The draft also proposed increasing the number of positions available to foreign workers at rural companies under certain requirements.

The draft said a more precise definition of what constitutes an “urban area” will be considered in the future.

The government plans to issue a related ministerial ordinance for the system by this summer.

Lawmakers at the ordinary Diet session last year decided to establish the new system to replace the technical trainee program, which has long been criticized as being used to secure cheap labor.

The new system, intended to address labor shortages in various industries around the country, will give foreign workers a three-year authorized period of stay, in principle.

If they obtain certain skills during that period, they could be promoted to Type 1 Specified Skilled Workers status.

Workers with this visa can stay in Japan for up to five years and receive other benefits.

Related News