As the technology economy advances around the world, so does demand for technical skills. And some countries are going to great lengths to fill that demand. HPR’s Bill Dorman has more in today’s Asia Minute.
Japan has an engineering problem that is related to demographics.
The economy doesn’t have as many young engineers as companies would like to employ, and the numbers are only going to get worse.
The Japan Times quotes a recent estimate showing that Japan will face a shortage of close to 600,000 IT-related professionals by the year 2030.
So the Japanese government has reached a deal with the government of India.
It will bring 300,000 young people from India to Japan to work as technical interns. As many as 50,000 are expected to wind up with full-time jobs in Japan.
The Press Trust of India reports the “Technical Intern Training Program” will last between three to five years—with the Japanese government picking up the tab.
Forbes reports that past programs to spur foreign engineers to come to Japan have had only limited success.
The latest initiative comes at a time of growing business ties between Japan and India.
Just last month, the two countries announced a deal to build India’s network of high-speed trains with Japanese technology—a venture worth some 17 billion dollars financed largely by low-interest loans from Japan.
As for the internship program, an Indian government official said it would help “bilateral cooperation…in the area of skill development.”
