Labour-rich Indonesia to send 100,000 workers to ageing Japan

Japan is anticipated to witness a fourfold increase in the influx of Indonesian migrant workers over the next few years, marking a significant collaboration to address labour shortages exacerbated by its aging population.

According to a South China Morning Post report, citing Anwar Sanusi, the Secretary-General of Indonesia’s Ministry of Manpower, in the coming five years, Indonesia plans to dispatch an additional 100,000 workers to Japan.

Sanusi disclosed this development during a job fair in Jakarta in October. He mentioned the implementation of “app-based application systems” to assist job seekers in finding employment opportunities in Japan that align with their skills.

Japan initiated a program in April 2019 to admit foreigners designated as Specified Skilled Workers (SSW), locally known as tokuteigino, to tackle the growing labor shortages.

Simultaneously, the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP), an older initiative, continues to attract foreign workers seeking entry into Japan’s labour market.

A 2022 report by the Japan International Cooperation Agency revealed that Japan would require 6.7 million foreign workers by 2040 to meet its projected economic growth rates.

Indonesia, recognising its “demographic dividend” with 70 per cent of its population aged between 17 and 64, aims to capitalise on this advantage. Additionally, the country seeks to alleviate its unemployment rate, officially standing at 5.32 per cent, which represents 7.86 million working-age adults.

“Indonesia is one of the largest suppliers of foreign migrant workers to Japan and the trend is likely to continue and grow substantially in the future,” South China Morning Post report quoted Dody Kusumonegoro, first economic consul at the Indonesian consulate in Osaka, as saying to This Week In Asia.

According to Japan’s Ministry of Immigration, there were 325,000 foreign workers in Japan under the TITP and SSW schemes in 2022, 54 per cent of whom were from Vietnam, followed by 14.1 per cent from Indonesia and 9 per cent from the Philippines.

Dody said last year marked a milestone for Indonesia under the SSW scheme as 12,438 new workers arrived in Japan, making it the largest annual intake on record.

Japan remains an attractive work destination for young Indonesian jobseekers undaunted by the prospect of finding employment overseas.

On average, Indonesians looking to secure work in Japan will need to pay upfront of between 30 million and 70 million rupiah in training fees charged by their respective agencies, which will ensure their language and work skills match the required standards set out by their Japanese employers.

As of May this year, Indonesia’s Ministry of Manpower has licensed 362 agencies to send workers overseas, but it has also suspended the licences of 248 for breaches of trust and malpractice since 2015.

With inputs from agencies