Keynote by a Government Official: Transforming Talent in Japan

A rapidly aging and shrinking population is prompting Japanese businesses and political leaders to seek new and innovative ways to fill talent gaps. With a designated-skills visa program designed to bring in some 500,000 new workers by 2025, its workforce is radically and rapidly transforming.

Starting next year, immigration rules will be relaxed for foreigners looking to work in Japan. The move is aimed at alleviating the country’s severe labor shortages, but economists say it likely would not be enough to mitigate the phenomenon of a shrinking working-age population.  Many are also wary of the impact more foreign labor will have on Japan’s homogeneous society.

In this session, we hear from a government official who will share insight on the visa programs designed to recruit a wide variety of global talent; how these will impact immigration, tax and wage and how has the implementation been so far.