Foreign Labourers Are The First To Go In Japanese Downturn

[Mulboyne]

AP: Adios - Foreigners laid off in Japanese downturn
HAMAMATSU - Brazilian Stenio Sameshima came to Japan last year with plans to make a bundle of money at the country's humming auto factories. Instead, he's spending a lot of time in line at employment agencies. The 28-year-old is one of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of foreigners who are among the first laborers in Japan to lose their jobs as the global financial crisis eats into demand for cars, trucks and motorcycles, government officials say. The layoffs are also the first evidence that the mushrooming economic meltdown in the United States and elsewhere is shaking the Japanese labor market, presaging further trouble if the downturn persists or deepens...The Labor and Health Ministry said the numbers of foreigners showing up at government-run job centers in affected regions have doubled to some 1,500 a month as of August, while Japanese jobseekers have remained constant. And those centers handle only a small fraction of the foreign workforce, officials say. "The ethnic Japanese from abroad have been particularly hit hard," said Tatsuhiro Ishikawa, a ministry official in charge of foreign labor. "They're often the first ones to be fired just because they're foreigners"...more...

Japanese newspapers have been carrying a number of similar articles. Most are concerned about the welfare of the workers while some also wonder what kind of social problems might result from high unemployment among the immigrant population.

[ghostunit]

[omae mona]

Anyone who believes a Japanese will have any sort of loyalty to a brown foreigner is foolish or deluded. Maybe even genuine respect is out of the question.

Note, though, that one of the main parts of the article is that ethnic Japanese Brazilians have been losing their jobs in droves. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "brown foreigners", but that particular population is typically visually indistinguishable from native Japanese, and usually have Japanese names as well. What they don't have, typically, is Japanese language or cultural skills, or citizenship status.

So I don't believe you can blame racism, per se, for all of this problem. It's more likely the beginning of a reversal of the trend that begin when these non-Japanese were granted visas simply because of their heritage.

[Cyka UchuuJin]

[Yokohammer]

Sounds about right.
That's probably the way it would work in just about any other country too if the foreigners in question are doing jobs that the locals could do just as well.

[Mulboyne]

I'm surprised people think that foreign labour is always the first to go in a downturn. That's not even particularly true in Japan. The most important considerations for a business are cost and the legal implications of terminating employment. You have to remember that foreign labour also includes foreigners employed overseas. I don't think anyone would have any trouble imagining a situation where a company facing tough times closes down a local factory and relocates somewhere like China or Vietnam. That's what Japanese manufacturers did after the bubble burst and it was only relatively late in the day, say around five years ago, that they began to invest once again in domestic capacity.

The labourers in the article above are easy for a firm to fire because they are not contract employees, not because they are foreigners. Of course, their status and language skills may also mean they have less recourse to legal remedies. One of the Japanese newspaper articles on the subject suggested that they are also vulnerable because they are not actually the lowest cost labour. There's evidence that some of these foreigners are being replaced by cheaper foreigners.

If demand continues to fall, then firms will need less manpower rather than just cheaper manpower which is why you have a growing number of disputes about contract status.

[ghostunit]

Cyka UchuuJin, let's see you praise the wisdom of the company and sing in joy to the betterment of Japanese society when you get kicked out of a job because your last name is "Ramirez" instead of Tanaka.

[Iraira]

Cyka UchuuJin, let's see you praise the wisdom of the company and sing in joy to the betterment of Japanese society when you get kicked out of a job because your last name is "Ramirez" instead of Tanaka.

Are you suggesting that people of Latin descent should change their last names to Tanaka in order not to be fired? Like there aren't enough Tanaka's already. I can't throw a dead cat on the subway without hitting a Tanaka.

-Iraira Suzuki

[Cyka UchuuJin]

Cyka UchuuJin, let's see you praise the wisdom of the company and sing in joy to the betterment of Japanese society when you get kicked out of a job because your last name is "Ramirez" instead of Tanaka.

hmmm...have you not realised yet that this is the most racist society in the world, with all kinds of laws to back it up?

you're not saying anything here that you weren't moaning about in your 'i'm a bitter gaijin' comment.

my comment stands...bitter gaijin are the worst and it was your choice to come to this country. you don't like it? leave.