Japan’s bold, new visa schemes may still come up short in global war for talent

TOKYO - In its boldest move yet in the global war for talent, Japan is planning new visas from April for recent graduates of elite foreign universities and high-income earners to find work in the country.

This comes with childbirths in Japan on a steep decline,

falling under 800,000 for the first time in recorded history since 1899. Given the shrinking labour pool, a think-tank in February said that Japan will need four times more foreigners by 2040 than the 1.72 million in the workforce today in order to maintain average annual growth of 1.2 per cent.