
Background
As of January 2020, there were appx. 1.66 million foreign workers (reported by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, as of October 2019), including estimated 380,000 technical intern trainees, and the number of offices which employ foreign workers is reported as around 240,000. As foreign workers are important members of Japanese economy and society, we will be able to move forward to a multicultural society by achieving their decent work. With the growing international awareness of the concept of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and “Business and Human Rights”, Japan has been criticized for its problems related to forced labor, discrimination and harassment against foreign residents working in Japan. This may affect the business, employers and host organizations in terms of securing the number of foreign workers, ESG investments and branding.