In January 2021, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reported that the number of foreign workers had hit a record high of 1.7 million. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has seen over 100,000 job losses in Japan. While this figure is believed to include a disproportionately high share of foreign workers, there has been no detailed analysis on the specific negative impacts they have faced during the pandemic.
Protecting Japan’s foreign workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic (eastasiaforum.org)
A Vietnamese migrant worker who lost her job amid the COVID-19 outbreak, studies Japanese language at a Buddhist temple which has turned into a shelter for young Vietnamese migrant workers in Tokyo, Japan, 2 July 2020 (Photo: Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon).
