The OECD said Thursday that it is problematic that foreign technical trainees often have heavy debts to pay fees to the organizations that send them to Japan.
The position was included in a review of the OECD’s first review on Japan’s foreign labor policy, conducted over the three years from 2021 in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor’s National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.
In the review, the OECD said Japan’s technical trainee program has been used to meet labor demand rather than passing on skills to trainees.
The OECD urged the country to reduce the risk of foreign trainees incurring debt by coordinating the responsibilities of groups that act as brokers for technical trainees and monitor companies that accept trainees from abroad.
Under the technical trainee program, many trainees have huge debts to pay fees and deposits to organizations in their home countries. This is believed to have led to some of these interns disappearing or working illegally.
Meanwhile, the OECD praised Japan’s move to allow foreign workers with so-called specific skills to effectively live in the country indefinitely, and the fact that many international students stay in Japan after completing their studies.
