A key 40,000-worker quota? Fully used up. No new applications. Even pending ones? Frozen. Contractors who invested time, money, and planning are now stuck. The private recruitment model; which let builders handpick workers and cut delays; was working. Construction times dropped. Workers were stable. Now, with no clear alternative, projects risk slowing down again. And since labor makes up 40%+ of building costs, delays = higher home prices. The ministry admits this system worked; and wants 20,000 more workers. But red tape’s in the way. Workers’ rights groups? They say private hiring breaks bilateral deals and want to regularize existing workers instead. So who wins? Not homebuyers. Not builders. Maybe bureaucracy.