Nurses from Abroad and the Formation of a Dual Labor Market in Japan

Abstract

This article examines concerns regarding the formation of a dual labor market in Japan-Indonesia/ Philippines projects under the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) by comparing legal framework, rules, guidelines and actual conditions. These potential problems were identified before the agreements went into effect. An institutional framework has also noted different alternatives that might mitigate these difficulties. Ensuring equal remuneration for Japanese and migrant workers and providing sustainable Japanese language skills and adequate exam preparation might prevent the worsening of wage and working conditions in the labor market. Through an analysis of three surveys, this article argues that the accepting organizations have introduced an increasing bipolarization of training hours. Furthermore, the numbers of accepting organizations are decreasing due to this imposed burden. The first cause of this is the weakness of the educational infrastructure in overcoming examination difficulties in Japanese. This is partly due to the fact that the EPAs began before their terms and conditions were clearly defined. The early formative years show that the Japanese government took a noninterventionist stance and continuous learning has been difficult for some candidates because the accepting organizations, hospitals and care facilities, are not educational institutions. Even though the Japanese government has spent 1.5 billion yen over the last two years to improve the training infrastructure, bipolarization continues to be a major issue. Even with the higher satisfaction ratio of patients under EPA, the number of accepting organizations is declining, and concurrently, the number of licensed nurses entering Japan through non-EPA channels is increasing. The examination pass-ratio of these non-EPA nurses greatly outnumbers that of the EPA candidates, which seriously calls into question the significance and sustainability of EPA in its current form.