Japan suspends new foreign worker intake for food service, rattling care facility kitchen

Japan has halted accepting new foreign workers with the Specified Skilled Worker (i) status for food service, causing concern for an already strained restaurant industry. At Yoko no Sono, an elderly care facility in Odawara, Kanagawa, two Myanmar workers were preparing meals for 120 residents. The facility employs nine kitchen staff, including three Japanese workers in their 70s.

The labor shortage has worsened since 2019, with fewer Japanese workers applying for positions. In 2022, Kato, the facility's chairperson, traveled to Myanmar to recruit workers, eventually hiring two Myanmar nationals. However, in spring 2025, two workers left, one for a restaurant in Tokyo and the other to open his own business in Myanmar.

Kato initially believed new foreign workers would follow, but the facility now faces a shortage of skilled kitchen staff. The government had allocated 50,000 visas under the Specified Skilled Worker (i) program for food service from 2024 to 2028, but the field is projected to exceed its quota. With the new intake suspended, the facility will struggle to maintain its workforce until March 2029.

Kato fears the situation will worsen unless the government takes action and supports overseas recruitment.