ABSTRACT

A recent increase in the number of international students employed in low-skilled part-time work raises the question; are they incorporated into host labor markets after they graduate, and if so, how? This article addresses this issue by examining the case of South and Southeast Asian students in Japan. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, this article shows that labor market incorporation occurs for most SSA students and takes two different forms. First, an analysis utilizing the Japan Student Services Organization datasets on student pathways after graduation (2014–2017) revealed that the primary form is their (re)incorporation as low-skilled part-time workers. Mostly enrolled in vocational schools, these students go on to another school upon graduation, which in effect means an extension of their status as student part-timers. Second, while incorporation as full-time workers also occurs, interviews with these workers suggested that they are employed as a workforce that serves the migrant population and/or supplements shortages of native-born workers. Based on these results, this article argues that SSA students in Japan are incorporated into the host labor market as complements to the labor needs that Japan’s new demographic reality has created.

摘要

最近从事低技能兼职工作的国际学生人数增加提出了这个问题；他们毕业后是否被纳入东道国劳动力市场，如果是，如何纳入？本文通过研究在日本的南亚和东南亚学生的案例来解决这个问题。本文使用定量和定性数据表明，大多数 SSA 学生都发生了劳动力市场整合，并采取两种不同的形式。首先，利用日本学生服务组织对毕业后学生途径（2014-2017 年）的数据集进行的分析表明，主要形式是他们（重新）合并为低技能兼职工人。这些学生大多就读于职业学校，毕业后进入另一所学校，这实际上意味着他们作为学生兼职的身份得到了扩展。其次，虽然也有作为全职工人加入的情况，但对这些工人的采访表明，他们作为劳动力服务于流动人口和/或补充本地出生工人的短缺。基于这些结果，本文认为日本的 SSA 学生被纳入东道国劳动力市场，作为对日本新的人口现实所创造的劳动力需求的补充。