外国人労働者受け入れ、何を優先？ 気ままなリライト163
The Japanese government has begun to ease its resistance to growing calls for the reform or abolition of the Technical Intern Training Program (TTP). Originally intended to foster international cooperation, the program has come under fire for serving as a cover for cheap labor and failing to provide genuine skill training. Although the government has proposed a compromise, the future of the program remains unclear, caught between conflicting interests. Despite a proposed rebranding of the program, the underlying issues of labor exploitation will remain unsolved, benefiting Japanese industries at the expense of workers in Asian developing countries, who are bearing the brunt of poor labor conditions and inadequate protections.
The rebranding of the TTP, scheduled for 2027, is structured to continue prioritizing the needs of Japanese employers who rely on technical interns to keep their businesses afloat. While the revamped system addresses a key criticism by allowing job changes after two years, an improvement over the current TTP's three-year ban on job changes, it still binds workers to a single assigned employer during that period. This leaves them vulnerable to exploitation with little ability to escape abusive conditions. This effectively keeps employers in control of a workforce that has limited bargaining power, especially when compared with Japanese workers, who can freely change jobs without being forced to remain in unsafe or unethical work environments. Many of the jobs filled by technical interns are in sectors such as agriculture, construction, and manufacturing—industries often avoided by many Japanese workers due to low wages, physically demanding labor, or remote locations. The government views the two-year restriction as a deterrent, aiming to prevent Asian workers from treating their initial placement as a stepping stone to better job opportunities once they arrive in Japan.
Growing awareness of the systemic exploitation embedded in the current TTP has led to a rising number of interns fleeing or disappearing from their assigned workplaces. In 2023, immigration authorities reported 9,753 missing interns, an increase of 747 from the previous year. This accounted for 1.9% of the 509,000 interns, including those who remained in Japan at the end of 2022 and new visa holders in 2023. Many interns are becoming more aware of the deep-rooted issues within the program, which binds them to their designated employers for three years, even in the face of exploitation—such as excessive working hours, unfair wage deductions, underpayment, unsafe work environments, poor living conditions, and overwhelming workloads.
As efforts to counteract the growing number of missing interns, the immigration office’s upcoming clarification of its guidelines for allowing job changes under the current TTP seems to fall short of tackling the root issues. The updated criteria, scheduled to be introduced this autumn, place undue emphasis on retaining most Asian workers in their current positions, allowing the authorities to overlook less severe labor rights violations. Under the new guidelines, job changes are permitted only in cases of extreme abuse, such as physical or verbal violence, sexual harassment, or coercion, leaving subtler yet still harmful labor violations and poor working conditions unaddressed. This narrow focus on severe misconduct means that many interns remain stuck in unacceptable work environments, unable to leave despite facing conditions that would violate standard labor laws. Even when extreme abuse, such as physical violence or sexual harassment, occurs, interns often hesitate to report such incidents. As a result, unless abuse reaches an extreme, clear-cut level, less severe violations of labor rights are not seen as sufficient grounds to justify a job transfer.
In response to the growing recognition of the need for a fairer alternative to the exploitative TTP, the Specified Skilled Worker system was introduced in 2019 as a supplementary pathway for migrant workers from developing countries. This labor-focused system offers two types of visas and is designed to ease the financial strain on those workers before their arrival, while also providing them with greater job mobility, improved working conditions, and clear routes to long-term employment and residency. The Type 1 visa requires applicants to pass a basic Japanese language test, while the more advanced Type 2 visa not only demands higher language proficiency but also allows workers to bring their families to Japan. For many interns trapped in the TTP, transitioning to the Specified Skilled Worker system represents a vital opportunity to escape from exploitative conditions, earn higher wages and gain the freedom to choose their employers. It remains unclear whether the Specified Skilled Worker system is likely to fully replace the TTP, or whether the conflicting interests will continue to delay an integrated solution.