When the COVID-19 pandemic ends, others will be on the move again, crossing the world in search of career opportunities, education and better lifestyles. But the destinations and instructions for those movements can be replaced forever. Life in some countries, besides in the United States, will seem less desirable than before the pandemic. And the very nature of the recent crisis would possibly lead potential migrants to focus on safety, skill, and ability to establish family ties.
The United States, whose reaction to the virus has revealed chaos and division, is threatening to waste migrants. But other countries will gain, and with them, the advantages of diversity, dynamism and new talent. Few will gain more advantages than Japan, a relatively strong country with low unemployment, even with the need for more staff, and suitable universities that can attract academics who are possibly now reluctant to threaten expensive studies in the West.
Japan has long been regarded as a homogeneous country. After the pandemic, it will most likely become more varied and globally connected. This transformation, which will reshape Japanese society and challenge the classical understanding of its national identity, is obligatory for Japan to remain a significant force on the world stage.
Unlike many other rich industrialized countries, Japan has a small population of immigrants. Just over 2% of its 126 million inhabitants are non-citizens, and since 1980 only about 440,000 immigrants have become naturalized. By contrast, 13% of U.S. citizens are naturalized citizens or non-citizens. The coronavirus crisis has led Japan to further limit immigration, adding long-term foreign nationals from returning to the country. Such movements recommend a country that is fundamentally hostile to immigration.
But Japan is about to get rid of that reputation. In recent years, the Japanese government has created new visa categories and provided existing visa criteria for hiring and retaining more foreign staff and students. In the five years leading up to the pandemic, the number of foreign nationals in Japan increased to 31 in line with the penny. The country has attributes that can attract more migrants after the pandemic. These come with smart, relatively affordable employment prospects in line with schooling and an orderly social environment. Japan has long boasted of these comparative advantages, but the ravages of the global fitness crisis have made them even more prominent.
Japan’s labor market remains strong, despite global economic recession and emerging unemployment. The country’s unemployment rate at the end of May was 2.9%, above previous months, but far from close to rates in many other industrialized economies, such as France (8.1%) United States (13.3%). The vacancy rate in May was 1.2, which means there were 1.2 places for each candidate. This figure is lower than last year ‘1.6) and is expected to fall further as the pandemic persists, although it indicates the presence of unfilled jobs in Japan.
These high employment figures really involve a basic problem: a demographic crisis has created a severe labor shortage in Japan. Its population began to decline in 2005 and has been declining since 2011. The workforce is shrinking even faster than the general population. In 2019, more than 28% of the population was over 65, and only about 60% of Japanese citizens were between the ages of 15 and 64. Labour shortages in Japan are the highest among the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 6.4 million employees by 2030. The pandemic can cause an economic recession for several years, but it will not alleviate long-term labor shortages. Japan will want highly professional and unprofessional immigrants to fill their workforce, both from neighboring China and from Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam.
Japan’s personal sector has once again contributed to the country’s strangely low unemployment rate. Since the Great Recession of 2008, Japanese corporations have stocked up much of their profits to cushion tough times, rather than rewarding investors and raising their employees’ salaries. At the end of March, Japanese corporations declared total monetary reserves of 283 trillion yen (about $2.65 trillion). When the pandemic hit, companies had to use their reserves to retain their workers. Of course, these reserves are not inexhaustible: if the crisis lasts long and the economy collapses, Japanese corporations will eventually empty their coffers. But its instinctive conservatism has helped to advise the country through instinctive times.
In addition to attracting more task seekers than in the past, Japan is increasingly popular as a destination for foreign academics, especially those in China and other Asian countries. Japan has attracted foreign academics since the 1980s, but foreign English language proficiency has tilted the balance in favor of universities in Europe and North America. Most Chinese academics, for example, prefer to examine in the United Kingdom or the United States than examine in Japan. But coronavirus would possibly alter this trend.
More foreign academics at American universities come from China than anywhere else, however, their numbers are likely to decline soon. Experts have already predicted a decline due to the Trump administration’s immigration policies and its industrial war with Beijing. Now, the COVID-19 crisis can save Chinese academics more from heading west. Parents and academics have become reluctant to pay the highest tuition fees, as many schools and universities have transferred their courses online. They have also been alarmed by the recent wave of anti-Asian attacks in the United States and other Western countries. American and British struggles in the pandemic and growing social unrest in the United States have a more broken confidence. And in the wake of the global crisis, many families can make geographical distance more vital to deciding whether, and where, to send their college-age youth abroad.
Japan offers an attractive option for Chinese and Asian academics wishing to study abroad. Several Japanese universities are among those in the world. Tuition fees in Japan charge only a fraction of what is charged in the United States and Britain. And many Japanese universities now offer instruction in English.
Strong task clients make Japanese education even more interesting. Japan offers a highly organized and institutionalized task search procedure for university graduates and is committed to expanding the number of foreign graduates in its workforce. In the five years from 2015 to 2019, the number of foreign academics in Japan increased by 40%, from less than 250,000 to nearly 350,000. Among foreign academics who graduated from Japanese schools between April 2018 and March 2019, 35% found employment in Japan and 30% continued their studies there.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, some Japanese universities have won a record number of China programs. The expansion of interest follows a trend that is already underway: many Chinese academics have come to Japan in recent years to pursue higher education after reading in Australia, the United Kingdom or the United States. When asked why they arrived in Japan, most applicants discussed task opportunities, the country’s relative safety and proximity to their homes.
Since the pandemic, Japanese corporations have taken steps to better accommodate migrant staff. Such reforms are mandatory because the distribution of Japanese companies has long frustrated the professional ambitions of women and foreign staff. Companies rent staff as members that are divided between other positions and places according to the wishes of the company. Professional progression is sometimes slow. This taste for employee of members emphasizes transparent job descriptions, emphasizes teamwork, and requires commitment and sacrifice (demonstrated through long hours of work). This formula has produced the stereotypical figure of the alcohol-overloaded and overworked “salary” – commonly male and Japanese – but has made it difficult for others to succeed within their limits. Long hours of operation and rotational formula make it difficult for young people to be informed, a duty that is women’s duty. Foreign staff are upset by the slow promotion procedure and the unusual lack of autonomy at work.
COVID-19 has made adjustments to the formula because that taste for paintings, without the everyday jobs obviously explained and requiring constant supervision and coordination, is complicated when offices are far away. As a result, Japanese employers have been forced to reconsider their recruitment and control practices. In the space of remote paintings, corporations see the price of hiring other people to perform quick and well-explained tasks. Some corporations are now considering making those adjustments permanent. With these broader reforms, Japanese corporations will be able to attract and retain more professional foreign painters.
Barriers still prevent Japan from adapting to globalization and diversification. The pandemic has resulted in stricter border access restrictions, unemployment will rise as coVID-19 persists, and Japanese corporations will have to reform if they and society at large need to open up more to the world. But Japan’s benefits as a destination for immigrants and academics are evident, as the pandemic destroys economies and makes Western universities less available and less excited than before. Japanese corporations have long joined the global economy. Soon, so will Japanese society.
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