Japan Pays Foreign Workers to Go Home

The hard times of the global economic crisis has forced foreign workers in Japan into a quandary. “To leave or not to leave?” This is perhaps the question that most foreign workers will be asking themselves as the government tempts them with thousands of dollars in exchange for agreements to permanently leave the country. If they return under this program, they will be ineligible to reapply for a work visa. In response to the global economic slowdown which has raised unemployment levels to a three-year high of 4.4 percent, the government has rolled out a new plan to ease pressure on the economy. It is coaxing hundreds of thousands of blue-collar Latin American immigrants of Japanese descent to leave the country. Many of these guest workers – whose families left Japan a century ago in search of a better life – arrived in Japan during the export boom. They were attracted by special work visas issued by Japan to correct its industrial labor shortage. Under the pressure of the economic slowdown, Japan’s industrial production has plummeted to the lowest in 25 years and these foreign workers were the first in line to take the hit. Unless Japan changes its mind once the economy booms again, those that decide to leave can only hope to return someday to Japan as either tourists or professionals. – YaleGlobal