On 31 August 2026, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) published the results of its 2025 "Survey on the Actual Situation of Foreign Employment". The survey covered establishments with five or more employees enrolled in employment insurance that employ at least one foreign worker, and tabulates valid responses from 3,919 establishments covering 14,248 foreign workers.
- Wages: monthly cash earnings for regular workers averaged ¥292,400 (up 6.4% year on year)
- Working hours: 158.7 scheduled hours actually worked, plus 17.6 hours of overtime actually worked
- Breakdown by status of residence (top three categories, year on year): 「在留資格別にみると」("Looking at the breakdown by status of residence,") professional/technical fields 42.1% (38.9% the previous year) / status-based residence 24.0% (27.6% the previous year) / Technical Intern Training 21.7% (20.2% the previous year)
- Challenges in managing foreign employment (multiple answers allowed): "difficulty communicating due to Japanese-language ability and the like" was the most common answer, at 46.2%, followed by the administrative burden of visa-related matters at 24.8% and cultural differences at 22.4%
The status-of-residence figures above are the three largest categories, not the full breakdown. The share for professional/technical fields rose 3.2 points on the previous year, while status-based residence fell 3.6 points — the two categories are moving in opposite directions. The challenge companies cited most often was not administrative procedures relating to visas or status of residence, but communication in Japanese. Separately, the Immigration Services Agency publishes the total number of foreign residents in Japan, which we covered in Foreign Residents Hit Record 4.12M at End of 2025.
For building an acceptance framework that addresses communication as well as other challenges, our recruitment support services are also available for consultation.
Source: MHLW, "Results of the Survey on the Actual Situation of Foreign Employment"