(Un)certain Attractiveness: Vietnamese Migrant Employment Experience in the Japanese Labour Market

This chapter explores Vietnamese skilled migrants in the IT and engineering sectors in Japan, who are exchanged in the cross-border market and how they are transformed and positioned in the Japanese labour market. Although the interviewees have relevant informatics or engineering knowledge in demand in the Japanese labour market, accessing the labour market is challenging for them unless they accumulate additional qualifications in Japan. Labour users (i.e. client firms) expect a long-term commitment from migrants, but migrants do not plan long-term stays in the Japanese labour market because Vietnamese skilled migrants work in Japan to accumulate financial resources and advance their professional careers. Nevertheless, reliance on an intermediary eventually prompts these professionals to stay in the Japanese labour market for several years while operating in a workplace stratified by skill set. With a slim chance of developing their careers in the Japanese labour market, these workers do not consider becoming a part of the permanent workforce in this labour market.