Japan to recruit 2 lakh Indian IT professionals

Japan is currently struggling with rapid technological advancement and is in need for IT assistance. It has recently opened its doors to Indian IT professionals and is looking to bring about 2 lakh IT professionals in the country. It is planning to issue Green Cards to them in order to challenge their manpower deficit. Currently, there are about 9,20,000 IT professionals in the country and there is a demand for 2,00,000 more which is likely to grow to 8,00,000 by the end of 2030.

Japan is seeking India’s assistance since it is looking for advanced IT technology capabilities. The technological development in Japan currently needs rapid adaptation and innovation of emerging technologies. Due to the conscientious process, there is a dearth of qualified and trained IT professionals in Japan which is required to enhance the competitiveness in the field of life science, agriculture, finance and services.

According to the reports, the government is looking at Hyderabad for collaboration. Although Hyderabad is not as popular as Bengaluru in Japan, it is the Mecca of IT industry and a number of American companies have their centers in Hyderabad.  India can help bridge the gap in every sector from agriculture to healthcare and research and development. Japan is facing a manpower crunch and India can benefit from the same. Indians are keen to go to the US but the competition there is high and life is comparatively easier in Japan. The Government of Japan will be issuing Green Cards for highly skilled professionals who will get a permanent resident status in a year, making it one of the fastest residence approvals in the world. Further, Japan has also eased the rules for visa issuance to Indian citizens from 1st January 2018. Indians are not required to produce their employment certificate and letters of explanation for the purpose of multiple entries to Japan. The requirement of documentation has been brought down to three and if a 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 the US has tightened its H-1B visa rules and is asking companies to prove that the employee has assignments at a third party site. Moreover, the visa will be issued only for the period of work unlike the erstwhile three year duration.