Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Japan to Ease Requirements for Foreign Workers

I’ve been saying that the current unsustainable demographical trends in Japan will require the liberalization of migration policies which would allow inflows of foreign workers to offset the nation’s swiftly declining fertility rate (negative population growth).

image

Chart from Wikipedia.org

So far, rigid bureaucratic requirements has posed as a stumbling block, but this seems likely to change.

From Japan Times,

Non-Japanese applicants hoping to become certified nurses could see the government's notoriously rigorous exams get easier with the inclusion of English-language tests and a new set of communication exams based on basic Japanese.

Non-Japanese hoping to become care workers took the certification test for the first time Sunday, while those aspiring to become certified nurses have been applying for the exam since fiscal 2008.

But the low pass rate is prompting the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry to consider changing the system.

As I wrote last year

I’d bet cultural inhibitions extrapolated through politics will eventually pave way to embracing reality.

And reality check translates to policy changes.

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