Tokyo: The number of foreign workers in Japan surpassed 1 million for the first time last year, as the labour-strapped country struggles to find enough Japanese workers.
Slightly over a million foreigners from countries such as China and Vietnam were working in Japan as of last October, labour ministry data showed yesterday.
That was up nearly 20 percent from the previous year and a new record for the fourth straight year.
The figures suggest Japan is increasingly turning to workers from overseas to plug its labour shortages despite its reluctance to accept foreigners.
Japan is facing its worst labour crunch since 1991 amid a shrinking and ageing population, which has prompted calls from the International Monetary Fund to accept foreign workers.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said more Japanese women and elderly should work first before accepting immigrants, but policymakers are exploring ways to bring in more foreign workers without calling it "immigration".
The labour shortage is especially severe in the construction sector, where demand has spiked ahead of 2020 Tokyo Olympics and for rebuilding following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Over 41,000 foreigners powered the construction industry as of last October, up from around 29,000 the previous year.
In November, there were more than eight times as many jobs to build steel construction frames as workers, separate government data showed.
A Reuters investigation last year showed how asylum seekers banned from working were infact working on public works projects amid a shortage of Japanese construction workers.
Workers from China made up over 30% of the foreign labour force, rising 6.9% from the previous year, according to the labour data. Vietnamese workers were in second place, accounting for around 16% of foreign workers, but up over 50% compared to previous year.
Although Japan accepted a record number of foreign workers, these include trainees and exchange students working part time.
"It's not right that exchange students working part time and trainees who are supposed to be here to gain skills are counted as foreign labour," said Hidenori Sakanaka, former head of the Tokyo Immigration Bureau.
