Lê Nam Phong wrote this article in Vietnamese, published in Luật Khoa Magazine on January 25, 2024.
Japan Faces a Labor Shortage
Japan is grappling with a severe labor shortage resulting from a demographic crisis: a rapidly aging population and a steady overall decline in numbers. According to the Japanese Ministry of Labor, the country’s population peaked at 128.06 million in 2010 and has fallen; projections show it will drop to just 95.15 million by 2050.
This decline is accompanied by a dramatic shift in the country’s age structure. The working-age population peaked at 69.5% in 1990 and is expected to shrink to just 51.8% by 2050. In the same period, the elderly population (65 and over) is projected to rise from 23.1% to nearly 40% of the total population.
This nationwide demographic crunch is a nationwide problem, even in megacities like Tokyo. The continued migration of young people from rural areas to major urban centers only accelerates the demographic collapse, making it increasingly difficult to secure a sufficient workforce to sustain Japan’s economy. Faced with these stark trends, the most effective solution remains bringing in foreign labor.
Fearing China, Japan Opens Its Doors to Vietnamese Workers
While China’s labor force remains vital to Japan’s economy, concerns over potential national security risks have pushed Tokyo to supplement its foreign labor pool with workers from other nations. Việt Nam has emerged as a key part of this strategy. This explains why, despite ongoing controversies surrounding petty theft and illegal work among some Vietnamese laborers, Japan continues to accept large numbers of workers from a country it recently elevated to the status of a comprehensive strategic partner.
However, even as Japan opens its doors, Vietnamese citizens who wish to work there still face significant hurdles at home. One of the biggest challenges is the exorbitant brokerage fees charged by recruitment agencies in Việt Nam. These fees, which the Japanese government does not impose or require, are arranged entirely on the Vietnamese side and place a heavy financial burden on workers before leaving the country.
A Vicious Cycle of Debt and Desperation
While Japan itself charges no recruitment fees, Vietnamese workers consistently pay the highest price of any nationality to work there. A 2022 survey by Japan’s Immigration Services Agency found that Vietnamese technical interns paid an average of 656,014 yen (about 130 million đồng) in fees, significantly more than their Cambodian or Chinese counterparts.
A 2023 International Labour Organization (ILO) report painted an even grimmer picture, finding the average fee was actually 192 million đồng, a stark contrast to the 23 million đồng paid by Filipino workers.
According to Haruki Kondo, a labor policy researcher at the nonprofit organization POSSE, this debt is equivalent to 26 months of Việt Nam’s minimum wage and is mainly covered by high-interest loans. After factoring in living expenses, many workers struggle to repay these debts. As their contracts near expiration, some are forced to flee their official workplaces to go underground and work illegally simply to get out of debt. Kondo describes this situation as a form of “modern-day slavery and human trafficking.”
This system persists even as Việt Nam stands before a significant economic opportunity to become a key labor supplier to Japan. While Japan’s policy is for temporary workers, not immigrants, it could serve as a practical pathway for training a skilled workforce that ultimately benefits Việt Nam’s economy.
To seize this opportunity, Việt Nam must first address the unjustifiably high costs its youth are forced to bear. The country’s labor export system must be reformed to avoid devolving into a form of human trafficking, and the value of its labor could rise significantly if young workers were equipped with basic vocational skills before going abroad.
