Struggling with rapid technological advancements amidst the talent crunch especially in the IT industry, Japan is set to open its doors to recruit more Indian IT professionals. Executive Vice President at Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Shigeki Maeda said that as the efforts to deal with the country’s manpower deficit, Japan is planning to bring in around 200,000 IT workers and issue Green Cards to them for their arrivals.
In his keynote address at India-Japan Business Partnership Seminar, Maeda said currently there are about 920,000 IT professionals in the country and there is an immediate demand for another 200,000. By 2030, the demand is expected to grow up to 800,000.
At the event jointly organised by Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce and JETRO, he further said that Japan’s technological development at the moment requires rapid adaptation and innovation of emerging technologies. Therefore, it is seeking India’s assistance as it sees India has the most-advanced IT technology capabilities. “Due to this conscientious process, there is a dearth of well-qualified and trained IT professionals to enhance its competitiveness, particularly, in the areas of life-science, finance, services and agriculture,” he said.
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Additionally, the Japanese government is also looking primarily at Hyderabad for collaboration. Maeda acknowledged that while Hyderabad in Japan might not be as popular as Bengaluru, they are aware it is the Mecca of the IT industry in India. Not to mention, a lot of American companies also have off-shore offices there, Business Today reports.
Maeda stated that India can fill the gap in manpower shortage issue faced by the country, especially in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture to research and development. He added that while most Indians are keen to go to the US, the competition there is tough. Maeda pointed out that life will be much easier for them in Japan.
The Executive Vice President further said that the Japanese government would be issuing Green Cards for the highly-skilled professionals. These professionals would get permanent resident status in almost a year, making it one of the fastest residence approvals in the world. Furthermore, Japan has alleviated the rules for visa issuance to Indian citizens which take effect from January 1, 2018. Indians also do not have to produce their employment certificate and letters of explanation for multiple entries to Japan. The number of documents required has been brought down to three, while if the person has travelled to Japan twice in a year, he or she can produce just the passport and the visa application form.
This announcement comes at a time when US has tightened its H-1B visa rules, asking companies to prove that the employee has specific and non-qualifying speculative assignments at a third-party site. Moreover, the visa would be issued only for the period of work at that third-party site, unlike the previous three-year period.
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