Japan has opened its door for Bangladesh, let’s not ruin it
Bangladesh is hoping to send at least one lakh people to Japan over the next five years to work in various skilled and semi-skilled jobs. During a meeting with a Japanese parliamentary delegation at the Jamuna last month, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus announced, "We plan to send 100,000 young people to Japan. They will receive language training, skill development, etiquette lessons, and even some history education." One can hope that this training will be offered and the certification completed before the aspiring migrants head for the airport in Dhaka.
Let us now examine the challenges the trainees will face once they are in Japan and how best to prepare them quickly in an intensive immersion curriculum, that is in the works.
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A little background for this labour migration project to Japan is in order. Japanese companies are experiencing severe labour shortages, and in the face of a looming crisis, various government and non-governmental agencies in Japan have reached out to Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia in the past, to teach and train young people to motivate them to migrate to Japan on short-term work visas. Bangladesh is now joining this initiative to ease its domestic jobs crisis.
Fortunately, our Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment (MEWOE), entrusted with the Japan labour migration initiative, can learn from research studies and reports that show what worked and what failed in the past for job-seekers from various Southeast Asian countries to Japan.
There is no denying that the chance to work in Japan, a developed country, will be a life-changing experience for a Bangladeshi citizen, and prospective migrants are very likely to prefer this destination over Malaysia or the Middle East.
For young, college-educated Bangladeshi graduates, another door will open in April 2027, when Japan replaces TITP with Employment for Skill Development, a new system that offers more flexibility for foreign workers. It is expected that both governments will tailor their training and recruitment activities to facilitate a smooth transition to the new programme.
In the past, Bangladesh has sent workers and students to Japan, but life is tough for new settlers who do not speak Japanese. Studies show that basic proficiency in Japanese is crucial to new immigrants' successful integration, as it affects their access to healthcare, mental wellbeing, and employment opportunities.
I have come across many workers who went to Japan but left during its recession, which followed the global economic crisis a decade ago. Some of them are now living in Boston in the US. The experience of these Bangladeshis is varied. Most of them had to overcome many hardships without the support of their community. On the other hand, a Filipino migrant who is now settled in the US had a more pleasant experience. One common issue they all mentioned is the language barrier. They all testified that insufficient fluency can lead to social and psychological stress and create barriers in daily life, such as navigating medical systems and workplace administration.
The government of Japan is aware of the considerable hurdles it has faced since the initiation of the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) in 1993 to train and recruit foreign workers in skilled and semi-skilled jobs. TITP had been the primary pathway for more than three decades to recruit foreign labour despite widespread allegations of exploitation, poor working conditions, and other harms. In April 2019, Japan established a new status of residence, Specified Skilled Worker (SSW), to welcome capable specialists from overseas to work in certain Japanese industrial fields, as workers ready to take on jobs without prior training. The sectors where most foreigners are employed today include manufacturing, services, and wholesale/retail.
For young, college-educated Bangladeshi graduates, another door will open in April 2027, when Japan replaces TITP with Employment for Skill Development, a new system that offers more flexibility for foreign workers. It is expected that both governments will tailor their training and recruitment activities to facilitate a smooth transition to the new programme.
Unfortunately, migrants as well as recruiting agencies often are reluctant to spend money on human resources development because of "market failure." In other words, the worker may not get a job or good salary after training in a certain field or may leave the job for another industry. Learning another language, particularly Japanese, is risky since the workers are not guaranteed a job. While basic conversational skills can be acquired in 1-2 years, academic language proficiency takes 5-7 years or longer, highlighting the challenges for migrants' children in school.
If the government of Bangladesh invests in training our young people to work overseas, it becomes a win-win venture. Japan benefits from the human capital, and Bangladesh gains valuable "externalities." These benefits arise because the training—in language, skills development, etiquette, and Japanese history—not only helps the current cohort of job-seekers but also creates a "network good." As more trained workers establish themselves in Japan, they share knowledge, build reputations, and open pathways that make it easier for future generations of Bangladeshi workers to find opportunities there—a externality for Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh government has set up a Japan Desk at the MEWOE to facilitate recruitment and migration. The Japan Desk has been tasked with several responsibilities, including surveying demand in the Japanese labour market; identifying employment opportunities; arranging Japanese language training and digital testing; strengthening coordination with Japanese and Bangladeshi institutions; and supporting quality certification centres.
It is not clear if the trainees will receive any allowances during the training period. The news reports indicate that the Japanese government and non-governmental agencies will provide funding for the multi-year initiative. With legislation in Japan opening the door to lower-skilled foreign labour, their government has also awakened to its responsibility to support the social integration of immigrants through language instruction and other educational supports.
Our prospective migrants have to be cautioned about the hidden enrolment fees often charged by recruiting agencies. Some employers also may withhold a significant portion of trainees' wages for "compulsory savings" that are forfeited if the worker quits. Other issues that migrants in Japan have reported include restricted job mobility, sub-minimum wages, and excessive hours of work. A 2023 investigation found that roughly 70 percent of companies hiring technical trainees in Japan had violated labour regulations.
Our government should take these issues into cognisance, while preparing workers for the Japan migration programme. To increase accessibility, our Japan Desk can expedite the development of Japanese language apps and a Learning Management System (LMS) for online training. The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training need to gear up for the necessary tasks, including job-matching (aligning candidates' skills with in-demand roles), pre-deployment training (in job-specific skills, workplace etiquette, cultural adaptation, and language proficiency), and post-employment support with career counselling and upskilling programmes to help workers stay competitive in global markets.
We must seize this opportunity and not let red tape or inefficiency ruin it.
Dr Abdullah Shibli is an economist, working with a non-profit fiscal intermediary. He previously worked for the World Bank and Harvard University.
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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