The balance of power among foreign workers in Japan’s elder-care sector is shifting. The number of care workers on the “Specified Skilled Worker” visa has reached 67,871, with a surge in Myanmar nationals — whose remittances have jumped in real value — even as Vietnamese workers increasingly turn away from Japan.
Behind this is a currency gap. Even as the yen keeps weakening, remittances from Japan to Myanmar are now worth roughly three times what they used to be thanks to a plunge in the Myanmar kyat, while remittances to Vietnam have shrunk in value — 100,000 yen now converts to around $600, down from about $900 before the pandemic. On 5ch, opinions split over both the caliber of workers from different countries and Japan’s own working conditions.
In the near future, you or a family member may well end up living in a care facility — a realistic prospect for an aging Japan. Yet facilities are chronically short-staffed, and foreign care workers from countries like Myanmar and Nepal are increasingly counted on to fill the gap. We looked into the growing international competition to secure this workforce.
■ Myanmar now outpaces Vietnam as a source of care workers
Care facilities across Japan are increasingly hiring foreign staff. With 67,871 people already working in the care sector under the Specified Skilled Worker visa alone (*A), schools have sprung up in Myanmar and Nepal specifically to train workers headed for Japan. One such school is the Asian Unity Japan Technical Intern Training Centre (hereafter “Asian Unity”).
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
Well, it's definitely become a cheap country to commit crimes in.
Guess that just means they only grew up to be the kind of geezers who fly into a rage over something like that.
They're more reliable than the bottom rung of Japanese people.
You clearly don't understand the economics here. All of those countries have higher income levels than Myanmar.
They're not really any different from Myanmar though.
India, Turkey, and Thailand have per-capita GDPs 5 to 20 times that of Myanmar.
Feeling that way just shows a lack of knowledge. In reality, plenty of migrant workers move between countries with income levels that look nearly identical from Japan's vantage point — Laos and Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, China and Vietnam, and so on.
There's still Africa, we'll be fine.
Seriously, read Re: #1 first…
Since when did Japan become a poor country? lol
And what's this about Japanese people leaving? Answer that.
I think the weak yen — a "special-grade curse," the vengeful spirit of Abenomics (a Jujutsu Kaisen-style joke) — is a big part of the curse here.
"Care workers from some countries, like Vietnam, are already turning away from Japan. Their home economy is booming, and on top of that, sending 100,000 yen from Japan to Vietnam used to convert to about $900 before the pandemic — now, with the weaker yen, it's only around $600. Nepal, meanwhile, has seen its own currency weaken against the dollar too, so the remittance amount hasn't changed much from before the pandemic. In Myanmar's case, the exchange rate went from 1,000 kyat per dollar before the pandemic to 4,500 kyat per dollar now, meaning workers can send home more than three times as much as before."
Background and key points of this topic
Japan’s acceptance of foreign care workers rests on the “Specified Skilled Worker” system, which includes transfers from the former Technical Intern Training program, and the care sector alone reportedly employs 67,871 such workers. The article’s central point is that the rise and fall in numbers by country of origin isn’t about differences in worker quality — it’s mainly driven by exchange rates. Myanmar’s kyat has plunged from 1,000 to 4,500 per dollar, making remittances from Japan worth roughly three times what they used to be, while the weak yen has shrunk the dollar value of a 100,000-yen remittance to Vietnam from about $900 to around $600 — one factor behind Vietnamese workers’ cooling interest in Japan. Commenters were split over how to judge workers by country of origin as well as over Japan’s own working conditions, though some posts misjudged the per-capita GDP of the countries mentioned — a reminder to be wary of drawing simple links between income levels and the motivation to work abroad.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Breaking News Plus) thread “The Real Reason Myanmar Workers Are Choosing ‘Weak-Yen Japan’ Care Jobs… As Vietnamese Numbers Fall, Myanmar Workers Nearly Double and Remittances Triple.”
