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The story
On September 10, Japan’s National Police Agency announced it will set up a panel of experts to discuss whether to add the security services industry to the list of sectors covered by the “Specified Skilled Worker” residence status for foreign workers, as well as “Employment for Skill Development,” the new system replacing the Technical Intern Training Program. The work envisioned includes facility security and traffic control, as well as cash transport — a job that demands a high degree of trustworthiness. The panel will consist of six members, including lawyers and university professors well versed in accepting foreign workers and representatives of industry groups, and is expected to compile a report by around next January. On 5channel threads, opinions were split, with users raising doubts about screening people by nationality, voicing concerns over public safety, and worrying about the impact on job opportunities for existing jobseekers such as Japan’s “employment ice age” generation.
The National Police Agency announced on the 10th that it will set up an expert panel to debate the pros and cons of adding “security services” to the industries covered by the “Specified Skilled Worker” residence status for foreign workers and “Employment for Skill Development,” the system replacing the Technical Intern Training Program.
A report is expected to be compiled as early as next January. Based on that report, the agency is expected to ask relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Justice, to revise the system.
The panel is made up of six people, including lawyers and university professors with expertise in accepting foreign workers, along with representatives of industry groups. It will discuss which specific duties — such as facility security, traffic control, and cash transport — should be permitted, how many workers to accept, and what skills, including Japanese language ability, should be required.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
Hiring security guards from countries with poor public safety records is just idiotic.
If you carve out an exception for foreigners, it just becomes the new standard and turns into an entitlement.
Because hiring a Japanese person doesn't come with a subsidy.
Even Ice Age generation folks can interview today and start working tomorrow.
The competition ratio is like negative 15-to-1.
Even within a security company, it's a fairly senior role.
Apparently it's actually increased compared to the past.
They've started 24-hour cash withdrawal services at convenience stores too.
Someone still has to refill the ATMs, you know.
Eventually physical AI will take over, but once you let something in, it's hard to get it to leave.
In China, humanoid robots have started doing security work.
Though apparently they sometimes go on a rampage.
Japan should be pouring effort into this instead of foreign workers.
Wonder if the singularity will have happened by around 15 years from now.
Honestly, having frail young guys or old men as security guards is worrying.
As long as they have solid ethics, a tough, sturdy foreigner would be fine.
They can't guarantee pay good enough to attract sturdy foreigners.
It's 10,000 yen a day, no compensation for time off, no bonus, no retirement pay — basically no different from a part-time job.
And now they're bringing in Specified Skilled Worker visa holders?
Makes no sense to me.
"Wow, a foreigner who can do security work! Hired!"
"A Japanese person doing security is just expected, so no thanks."
What an absurd era we live in.
Just bringing in foreigners can solve the declining birthrate problem.
They'll work cheap.
The more immigrants you bring in, the better.
Construction framework workers: 7.94x
Security/public safety workers: 6.54x
Care service workers: 3.82x
Drivers: 2.53x
Customer service/serving staff: 2.30x
All occupations combined: 1.05x
General clerical workers: 0.29x
So security guards are overwhelmingly short-staffed.
Even shorter-staffed than caregiving.
Though it's probably almost all traffic control work anyway.
Facility security is mostly doddering old men too.
If it's that short-staffed, are they still being picky?
They're not being picky and then turning around to complain about a labor shortage, right?
I'd bet there is.
More reliable than some scrawny Japanese guy.
Security companies are a landing spot for retired police officials (amakudari), you know.
If the higher-ups decide it, they'll fall in line.
Background and Key Points of This Story
The Security Services Act itself has no nationality requirement for security guards, but because work such as cash escort has long been premised on a high degree of trustworthiness, this has been a field where no system for directly accepting foreign workers has existed until now. The Specified Skilled Worker status was created in 2019 to address labor shortages, and the industries it covers have been expanded one by one; today’s announcement marks the start of full-fledged deliberation on adding the security industry. After the report is compiled next January, relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Justice are expected to decide whether to revise the system, though exactly which duties would be covered and what level of Japanese ability would be required has not yet been settled. On the threads, some pointed to the reality of the labor shortage, noting that the job openings-to-applicants ratio for security occupations exceeds 6-to-1, while others voiced persistent frustration that opportunities for existing jobseekers — such as the Ice Age generation and older workers — would be narrowed. Opinion split along two lines: “concerns over public safety and trust” versus “the reality of the labor shortage.”
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (News Speed+) thread “[Foreigners] National Police Agency Weighs Adding “Security Guards” to ‘Specified Skilled Worker’ Visa — Cash Transport Too?“.
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