University of Tokyo

Abstract
Survey Number 1092
Survey Title Fact-finding Survey on the Acceptance of Foreign Workers, 2015
Depositor Foreign Workers' Affairs Division, Employment Measures for the Dispatched and Fixed-term Workers Department, Employment Security Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
Restriction of Use For detailed information, please refer to 'For Data Users' at SSJDA website.

- Apply to SSJDA. SSJDA's approval required.
Educational Purpose Only available for research.
Period of Data Use Permission One year
Access to Datasets Download
Nesstar Not available
Summary The number of foreigners working in Japan in 2015 was approximately 910,000. It was the highest number since the Notification of Foreign Workers' Employment Status became mandatory.

Further, the utilization of foreign personnel is included in the 2015 edition of "JAPAN is BACK," a strategy that seeks to revitalize the economy further and to strengthen the country's competitiveness. For this reason, the number of foreign workers in Japan is expected to increase in the coming years.

In this context of increasing demand for foreign laborers, this survey was conducted to analyze how events with huge economic impact, such as the financial crisis of 2008 and the Tohoku earthquake of 2011, affected the employment of not only foreign workers but also Japanese professionals.
Data Type quantitative research
quantitative research: micro data
Universe The questionnaire was sent to 23,985 out of approximately 24,000 companies that were extracted from a list of companies owned by a private database company. (See "Sampling Procedure" as well.)
Unit of Observation Organization
Sample Size Number of questionnaire sent: 23,985 companies
Number of valid responses: 4,800 companies(Valid response rate: 20.0%)
Date of Collection 2015-09-30 ~ 2015-10-28
2015/9/30 – 10/28
Time Period 2015 ~ 2015
Spatial Unit
Sampling Procedure Other
[Sampling criteria]
・Juridical personalities
- Public companies, limited companies, limited partnerships, unlimited partnerships, medical corporations, and social welfare service corporations (does not include mutual companies)
・Type of industry
- Six types of industry: manufacturing, information and communications, transportation/postal service, wholesale/retail, accommodation/food service, and medical/welfare (the types of industry with the highest numbers of foreign employees according to the "Notification of Foreign Workers' Employment Status")
・Company size
- 10 or more regular employees (no upper limit)
(Allocated in the ranges of 10~29, 30~99, 100~299, and over 300 employees. A total of 7,232 cases with over 300 employees were extracted; the remaining companies were equally divided into three ranges.)
・Founding date
- Before December 2002 (to focus on companies that had a certain degree of management experience when the financial crisis of 2008 hit)
Mode of Data Collection Self-administered questionnaire: Paper
Distributed and collected by mail
Investigator Foreign Workers' Affairs Division, Employment Measures for the Dispatched and Fixed-term Workers Department, Employment Security Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; survey carried out by Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting
DOI 10.34500/SSJDA.1092
Sponsors (Funds)
Related Publications (by the Investigator) Please refer to the abstract in Japanese.
Related Publications (based on Secondary Analysis) List of related publications (based on Secondary Analysis)
Documentation [Chosa-hyo][Syukei-hyo]
Major Survey Items (1) Company outline
・Head office location (prefecture)
・Year of establishment
・Capital/Investment amount
・Foreign capital ratio
・Main type of industry
・Status of overseas expansion
・Number of regular workers (class value), number of regular employees (numerical value), number of full-time employees, number of regular employees/staff, and number of part-time employees
・Lowest amount of sales after the financial crisis of 2008
・Sales immediately before the Tohoku earthquake of 2011
・Lowest amount of sales after the Tohoku earthquake
・Current sales
・Experience with hiring foreign workers (including workers of Japanese descent)
・Types of foreign workers previously hired

(2) Status of utilization of foreign workers
・Status of residence of foreign workers previously hired, nationality, and type of work
・Number of workers employed (skilled foreign workers, professionals with permanent residency, exchange students as non-regular employees, and technical intern training)
・Percentage of hires that remain employed after five years (Japanese mid-career recruit and foreign worker recruited as a regular employee)

(3) Employment changes during the financial crisis of 2008
・Employment changes during the financial crisis of 2008 (foreigner/Japanese)
・Problems with foreign workers quitting the job during the crisis
・Causes of employment changes following the crisis (whether there was voluntary resignation or employment adjustment)
・Whether discussions between foreign workers and managers over employment adjustment were held
・Employment changes concerning foreign/Japanese workers (between the financial crisis of 2008 and the Tohoku earthquake of 2011)
・Adjustment of occupations held by foreign workers before the financial crisis of 2008

(4) Employment changes after the Tohoku earthquake of 2011
・Employment changes after the earthquake (foreign/Japanese)
・Problems with foreign workers quitting the job after the earthquake
・Causes of employment changes following the earthquake (whether there was voluntary resignation or employment adjustment)
・Whether discussions between foreign workers and managers over employment adjustment were held
・Employment changes concerning foreign/Japanese workers (since the Tohoku earthquake)
・Adjustment of occupations held by foreign workers before the Tohoku earthquake

(5) Current situation and thoughts
・Measures taken to avoid employment adjustment
・Merits of having avoided employment adjustment
・Usefulness of the response and experience related to the employment of foreign workers during the financial crisis of 2008

(6) Employment plans for the future
・Changes in the policies regarding the employment of foreign workers
・Perception of specific risks involved in employing foreign workers, details of those risks, and reason for believing that the risks will not increase
・Foreign workers planning to be hired in the future and the preferred types of professionals
・Challenges concerning the utilization of foreign workers, the biggest challenge
・System or mechanism adopted to retain the best professionals
・Existence of different personnel and human resource management procedures for foreign workers
Date of Release 2016/11/02
Topics in CESSDA Click here for details

Employment
Minorities
Topics in SSJDA Employment/Labor
Version 1 : 2016-11-02
Notes for Users The data gathered under Question 1 (1) Head office location (prefecture) needs to be requested separately as special data 1100.
If you would like to use it, please request 1092 first, confirm that the special data are indispensable to accomplish your research objectives, and contact the SSJ Data Archive (ssjda@iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp).
The special data also include Questions 1 (3) Capital /Investment amount and 5 (1)~(4) Number of regular employees.