Japan is looking to hire 100,000 Filipino workers in various fields of employment by next month. According to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, these are only part of the 350,000 jobs that Japan is planning to open to foreign workers.
Bello said Japan’s Ministries of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Health, Labor and Welfare and the National Police will sign a memorandum of cooperation with the Department of Labor and Employment on Tuesday in Tokyo, ABS-CBN News reported.
“Our workers may get at least 30% of jobs available to foreign nationals,” Bello said.
Bello said the agreement will govern the hiring of specified skilled workers and ensure their protection through implementation of a basic framework that will promote smooth and proper mechanisms in all aspects of workers being employed in Japan.
At present, Japan is in need of workers in healthcare, maintenance, food services, electronics, agriculture, hospitality, construction, fisheries and aquaculture, among others. Japan is also allowing skilled workers, professionals and businessmen from the Philippines to stay up to five years, after which they may bring their spouses and children with them to Japan.
Bello said those who are interested in working in Japan are required to pass a technical and language skills examination before they can be employed. Bello urges aspiring migrant workers to only look for job opportunities through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and to be wary of job offers online.