Challenges Behind the Disappearance of Foreign Workers in Japan

Japan has been increasingly recruiting foreign workers annually to meet its labour shortages. Currently, the number of foreign workers has reached a record high of over 2 million. However, alongside this growth, a major social and legal issue has emerged: the high rate of technical intern trainees disappearing from their workplaces.

1. What is "失踪" (Shissou)?

In Japanese legal and immigration terminology, "失踪" (Shissou - disappearance or absconding) refers to foreign workers—especially technical intern trainees—who hold valid visas but leave their designated workplaces or companies without prior notice. After absconding, the majority of them continue to live and work in the country illegally.

2. Why Do Workers Abscond? (Main Causes)

According to investigations by the Japanese government and human rights organizations, workers abscond due to systemic flaws and workplace abuse rather than personal convenience.

• Restrictions on Changing Employers: Under the current technical intern training system, workers are strictly prohibited from changing employers or companies of their own free will. Consequently, if they face difficulties in the workplace, they often feel they have no choice but to run away.
• Exploitation of Wages: Some employers pay wages below the legally mandated minimum wage, fail to properly calculate overtime (OT) pay, or make excessive deductions for accommodation and other expenses.
• Workplace Human Rights Violations: Workers are left unprotected against psychological and physical abuse (power harassment) as well as discrimination by supervisors or colleagues.
• Debt Burden from the Home Country: Most workers incur enormous debts to pay service fees to sending agencies in their home countries to come to Japan. If their wages at the original workplace are low, they often follow illegal brokers who entice them with promises of higher pay to clear their debts.

3. Impact on Foreign Workers: Pros and Cons

While absconding may provide short-term relief from difficulties, workers usually face severe long-term life consequences.

Short-Term Impact (Pros)

• Immediate Escape from Abuse: The ability to instantly escape from workplaces involving forced labour or bullying.
• Potential for Temporarily Higher Income: Initially earning higher wages in sectors with high labour demand that accept undocumented workers, such as agriculture or construction.

Long-Term Negative Impacts and Consequences (Cons)

• Becoming an Illegal Resident (Overstay): Once they flee the company, their visa status becomes invalid, turning them into illegal residents subject to arrest under the law.
• Loss of Social Security and Medical Care: Since they no longer have national health insurance, it becomes difficult to receive medical treatment if they fall ill, or they face exorbitant medical costs.
• Deportation and Re-entry Ban to Japan: If arrested by the police or the Immigration Services Agency, they will be detained in a detention center and deported to their home country. Furthermore, they will be permanently banned from re-entering Japan in the future.

Source – The Japan Times/ NHK WORLD/ JITCO