Starting next year until 2025, Japan will open its doors to more than 50,000 Filipino workers once Prime Minister Shinzo Abe finalized its new policies for providing temporary residence for foreign workers.

They will join the 1.28 million foreign employees in Japan and 153,600 of them are Filipinos, based on data from the country’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare.

Before the year ends, the Japanese parliament is slated to have deliberation on the creation of a news residency status that gives foreign workers a vast range of industries to stay for 5 years.

Japanese Ambassador Koji Haneda cited Japan’s aging society and lack of labor force as key factors.

“Japan faces an aging society and lacks labor force, while the Philippines is abundant with young labor force with great potential,” said Haneda.

Earlier this year, Japan’s government announced nursing, farming, construction, hospitality, and shipbuilding as the industries that will accept foreign workers, and effectively lifted the ban on the recruitment of overseas workers for manual labor.

Presently, Japan only hires Filipino as nurses and care workers in accordance to a special agreement under Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement implemented on 2008.

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