Japan introduced the training program in 1993, primarily for the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, with trainees permitted to work for up to five years, but it has garnered domestic and international criticism for human rights violations such as physical abuse and the withholding of wages. The panel aims to compile the interim report by the end of April at the earliest and finalize it by the fall of 2023. The draft, however, acknowledged that many organizations have not prevented abuses against the trainees and underscored the need for such organizations to be corrected or eliminated. To be part of the program, a foreign individual must have the necessary occupational skills as well as a proficiency in Japanese.ĭespite the planned changes, supporters of the trainees worry that the technical internship program will be continued in practice as the envisioned new system maintains the existence of supervising organizations, which overlook the introduction of technical interns and provide them and their companies support. The Specified Skilled Worker program was established in 2019 to address labor shortages for particular industries, such as in the construction and nursing sectors. The panel of 15 members, composed of academics and heads of municipal government, also aims to realize the trainees' smooth transition to the "specified skilled worker" program by aligning job categories and allowing them to shape long-term careers in Japan. "It is undesirable to continue accepting as workers while saying that the program is only pursuing the goal of human resources development," the panel said in the draft, calling for the abolishment of the current program. The draft also called for facilitating the transfer of workers within the same business categories, as foreigners accepted under the foreign trainees program are not technically allowed to change their workplace. As the government plans to base the new program on the conclusions of the expert panel, its launch could mark a new turning point for accepting foreign human resources in a country that faces a graying population and severe labor shortage.
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