Foreign workers shun Japan as yen's value plunges

Oct 17, 2022 | News On Japan

TOKYO - The yen's sharp drop against the dollar and other currencies is making Japan less attractive to foreign workers, at a time when the average wage of Japanese workers in dollar terms has fallen 40% over the past decade.

The resultant narrower pay gap with emerging Asian nations has made it particularly difficult for Japan's construction and nursing-care industries to hire the workers they need.

A Tokyo-based nonprofit that trains Vietnamese construction engineers wishing to work in Japan in 2019 received five times more applications for a course than the 50 slots it had available. This autumn, MPKen, the NPO, does not expect to fill the same 50 slots for a new course.

The main reason fewer workers are interested in the training program is the yen's sharp depreciation. The Japanese currency over the past two years has fallen more than 20% against the dong. While foreign construction engineers in Japan have been earning an average monthly wage of about 200,000 yen ($1,375) in recent years, skilled workers in the same sector in Vietnam can now earn about 25 million dong (150,000 yen) a month, thanks to wage increases of 10% to 20% there. ...continue reading

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