The Philippine government has warned jobseekers against illegal recruitment for jobs in Japan. In a statement, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said there had been reports of people engaged in illegal recruitment activities and collecting fees from applicants allegedly for jobs in Japan.
The POEA said the illegal recruiters promised jobseekers employment in Japan under two new residency visas now available in the country. However, the two visas – Designated Skills 1 and 2 – will not be implemented until April 2019.
On December 7 last year, the Japanese government approved the opening of these two visa categories to attract low-skilled workers in industries where there are severe labor shortages.
“The POEA advises job applicants to wait for the appropriate guidelines in the recruitment and deployment of Filipino workers for these two visa status to be issued by the Japanese and Philippine governments,” the POEA said.
The Japanese government announced last year it was expecting to accept more than 50,000 Filipino workers by 2025 to fill shortages caused by the country’s aging labor force. At present, Japan only hires Filipinos as nurses and care workers. It aims to hire workers for the nursing, farming, construction, hospitality and shipbuilding industries.
Read: 50,000 Filipinos being hired to help fill Japan’s labor gaps