日本计划放松面向技术劳工的签证规定

Japan plans a review of visa rules by the summer as it seeks more skilled foreign workers to overcome increasingly severe labour shortages.

日本计划不晚于今年夏天完成对其签证规定的重新评估。目前，日本正寻求引入更多的外籍技术劳工，以克服该国日益严重的劳动力短缺问题。

The government says it will consider an expansion of visa categories and easing of rules. The main target is technology professionals but it will also look at sectors with severe labour shortages such as care, construction, transport and agriculture.

日本政府表示，它将考虑扩大签证类别和放松签证规定。其主要目标是技术专业人士，但也将着眼于劳动力严重短缺的行业，如护理、建筑、运输和农业。

The review shows how ageing Japan’s urgent need for workers is forcing it to rethink longstanding taboos. However, Shinzo Abe, prime minister, is determined to allow only guest workers, not permanent immigrants.

此次重新评估显示出，日益老龄化的日本对劳工的迫切需求正如何迫使其重新思考长期以来的禁忌。不过，日本首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)决心只接受外籍劳工，而不是永久移民。

That will limit the potential economic impact and raises questions about Japan’s desirability as a destination for the highly skilled. “My government has no intention of adopting a so-called immigration policy. We are sticking to that point,” Mr Abe said as he launched the review.

这将会限制此举的潜在经济效果，并让人对日本作为高技能人才最终落脚地的吸引力产生怀疑。“我的政府无意采取所谓的移民政策。我们将坚持这一点，”安倍在启动此次重新评估时表示。

“The preconditions are an upper limit on the duration of a stay and a basic refusal to let family members accompany a worker. With that, we want to come up with concrete proposals for reform by this summer, focusing on the sectors with greatest need.”

“其前提是，对停留期设置一个上限，并从根本上拒绝允许劳工的家庭成员随其来日。在此基础上，我们希望不晚于今年夏天提出具体的改革建议，重点关注需求最大的行业。”

The number of foreign workers in Japan has surged during the past five years as a strong economic recovery boosts demand for labour and an ageing native workforce reduces supply. Japan’s unemployment rate is down to 2.8 per cent and the ratio of open jobs to applicant is 1.59, the highest since the early 1970s.

过去5年里，由于强劲的经济复苏提振了对劳动力的需求，以及日益老龄化的人口导致本土劳动力供应减少，日本的外籍劳工数量大幅增加。目前，日本的失业率降至2.8%，而空缺岗位与求职人数之比为1.59，为1970年代初以来的最高水平。

There were 682,450 foreign workers in Japan in 2012, the year Mr Abe was elected to his second stint as prime minister, according to the justice ministry. By 2017 the number had almost doubled to 1,278,670. About a fifth of the expansion in Japan’s labour force under Mr Abe is foreign workers.

根据日本法务省的数据，在安倍第二次当选首相的2012年，日本有68.245万名外籍劳工。到2017年，这个数字几乎翻了一番，达到127.867万名。安倍任内日本的新增劳动力当中，约有五分之一是外籍劳工。

However, more than half of the growth in numbers came from loopholes in the visa system, notably students working part-time and so-called “technical interns”, who are theoretically in Japan for training but more often doing low-skilled factory work.

但这部分当中有一半以上源自日本签证制度的漏洞，特别是兼职的学生和所谓的“研修生”。“研修生”理论上是在日本接受培训，但更多的时候是在从事低技能的工厂工作。

Neither category provides a stable source of labour for shortage sectors such as construction and nursing homes. Business groups, under growing pressure to raise wages to attract native workers, have been lobbying the Abe government to offer more work visas.

这两个类别都没有为建筑和养老院等短缺行业提供稳定的劳动力来源。在通过加薪吸引本土劳工的压力日益增大之际，各企业集团一直在游说安倍政府发放更多的工作签证。

“Basically we are looking at revising the system for specialist and skilled workers,” said Toshimitsu Motegi, minister of state for economic and fiscal policy. He said that would include looking sector-by-sector at the minimum necessary skill levels.

“从根本上讲，我们正在考虑修订面向专家和技术劳工的签证制度，”日本经济再生担当大臣茂木敏充(Toshimitsu Motegi)说。他表示，这将包括逐个考察各行各业所需的最低技能水平。

Japan has struggled to attract highly skilled foreign workers given steep barriers of language and culture as well as a difficult path to permanent residency or citizenship. Only 5,494 workers have arrived under a points scheme aimed at scientists and business executives since it began in 2015.

由于巨大的语言和文化障碍，以及很难获得永久居民或公民身份，日本一直难以吸引到高技能外籍劳工。一项面向科学家和企业高管的计分计划自2015年启动以来只吸引来了5494名劳工。

In a sign of the political sensitivity around immigration, Mr Abe has entrusted the review to Yoshihide Suga, chief cabinet secretary, and Yoko Kamikawa, justice minister, rather than economic ministers who are more likely to favour liberalisation.

安倍已将重新评估工作委托给了内阁官房长官菅义伟(Yoshihide Suga)和法务大臣上川阳子(Yoko Kamikawa)，而不是更有可能支持放松管制的几位主管经济的大臣，这反映出移民问题在政治方面的敏感性。

Opinion polls show the Japanese public is at best evenly split on immigration when the question is framed as a measure to tackle population decline but opposed to large-scale arrivals or refugees. Younger Japanese are more likely to support immigration but older generations, who turn out most reliably in elections, oppose it.

民意调查显示，当移民问题被建构为解决人口萎缩的一项措施时，日本民众对移民的态度充其量是赞同与反对相当，不过，他们对大规模接收移民或难民表示反对。年轻的日本人支持移民的概率更大一些，而在选举中最可信赖的老一辈日本选民反对移民。