From: University World News.com, Internationalisation vs Japanisation, Deren Temel, 24 November 2017, Issue No:484
Japan has too many vacant jobs. In 2017, Japan’s low birth rate and relative economic recovery left 1.43 job vacancies for every applicant in all sectors and skill levels. In Tokyo, Japan’s white-collar capital, there are two jobs for every one applicant. To avert an employment crisis, the Japan Revitalization Strategy 2014 will both recruit 300,000 international students and employ 50% of those international graduates by 2020.
To retain these graduates, the Japanese government offers international students subsidised internships in Japanese companies, employment services and courses in Japanese language and business etiquette with the hope of increasing the percentage of internationals who remain in the workforce from 30% to 50% by 2020.
To retain these graduates, the Japanese government offers international students subsidised internships in Japanese companies, employment services and courses in Japanese language and business etiquette with the hope of increasing the percentage of internationals who remain in the workforce from 30% to 50% by 2020.
Vietnam is Japan’s second-largest source of foreign workers. In 2016, Vietnamese made up 16% of Japan’s foreign labour force, both skilled and unskilled. According to a 2017 DISCO survey, nearly 60% of Japanese corporations are eager to hire a skilled international. However, out of approximately 20,000 Vietnamese graduates, only 1,153 transferred from a student visa to a skilled work permit in 2015.
Vietnamese students should be aware that, despite high demand, Japanese universities struggle to prepare most internationals with the cultural competencies needed for employment in Japan’s unique corporate culture.
Vietnam and Japan experience symbiotic economic growth. Japanese Official Development Assistance and Foreign Direct Investment are Vietnam’s first and second-largest sources of investment respectively. Japan is Vietnam’s third-largest trading partner after China and the United States. Japan invests heavily in Vietnamese higher education through scholarships, joint-degree programmes, development projects and the Vietnam Japan University.
These Japanese initiatives both improve the quality of education in Vietnam and highlight the merits of Japan’s education system to prospective international students in Vietnam. Japanese trade, aid and investment initiatives are eager to hire skilled Vietnamese graduates, both in Japan and in Vietnam, to bridge the gaps of language and culture between the ever-closer partners.
In 2016, a Japanese IT professional organisation set a collective goal to recruit 10,000 Japanese-speaking IT specialists from Vietnam and India. Given this momentum, in 2016 alone, Vietnamese students studying in Japan surged by 15% to more than 54,000, with 25,228 enrolled in Japanese language schools and 28,579 studying at Japanese universities.
Although many Vietnamese graduates intend to work in Japan, Japan’s corporate recruitment culture poses notoriously strict procedures and formalities few Vietnamese graduates have the language or cultural capacity to navigate. Japanese expectations of lifetime employment don’t suit the mobile lifestyle of modern graduates, nor do Japan’s strict work permit and permanent residency laws.
Most Japanese companies expect that their new hires, both Japanese and international, complete a standard initial training period. The high cost and scarce intercultural capacity to train Vietnamese graduates leaves most small and mid-sized companies unable to hire an international.
To illustrate the employment barrier, in 2014 while 69.5% of international graduates intended to find work in Japan, only 34.5% actually gained employment. The following year, as mentioned, only 1,153 of 20,000 Vietnamese internationals transferred directly from a student visa to a skilled work permit.
Given the ever-increasing supply of and demand for international hires, the Japan Revitalization Strategy funds university initiatives to shift internationals from education to skilled employment.
Read the whole story: University World News.com, Internationalisation vs Japanisation, Deren Temel, 24 November 2017, Issue No:484