Japan is opening more job opportunities to Filipino skilled workers, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan "Toots" Ople disclosed on Thursday, Feb. 9.
Ople's announcement came after meeting representatives from more than 80 Japanese employers, whom she said, have expressed interest in boosting their respective manpower with Filipino workers.
“The general sentiment among Japanese employers was that Filipino workers brightened up their workplaces and were highly reliable and trainable,” said Ople, who is among the official delegation of President Marcos on his five-day visit to Japan.
The meeting with employers was followed by a dialogue with workers employed in Japan under the Technical Internship Training Program (TITP) and Special Skilled Worker (SSW) programs.
The TITP aims to accept workers from various countries to acquire industrial and vocational skills in Japan to contribute to the improvement of their occupational lives when they return to their home countries.
The SSW, meantime, allows the Japanese government to recruit qualified foreign workers in order to fill employment quotas in 14 industrial fields.
During the meeting, Filipino workers assured Ople hat they are being treated well and, in fact, said they would prefer to continue to work in Japan if allowed to by the Japanese government and their employers.
Because of the positive feedback and in response to the request of Japanese employers for more skilled workers, said that a Japan desk will be established in the Office of the Secretary to fast-track the needs of both Japanese employers and Filipino trainees.
“We want to build stronger relations with Japanese employers and the Japanese government so that the Philippines can be the number one source of skilled workers in Japan,” Ople said.
Salaries of workers in Japan range from 130,000 yen (PHP54,548) for entry level TITP trainees and up to 900,000 yen (PHP377,640) for specialized positions for highly skilled professionals.
Ople noted the major challenge is in hurdling the language proficiency test while already working in Japan.
This need is being addressed by the Preparatory Japanese-Language Training (PJLT) program under the existing Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
The PJLT is a language learning intervention mechanism which requires candidates to undergo a 6-month intensive training on Japanese language basics.
This Japanese language proficiency program allows a worker to qualify under the SSW program where he must either pass the necessary Japanese language exams and the skills exam corresponding to his chosen industry or have practical experience in the industry in the form of previous technical intern training experience (a minimum of three years of technical intern training)
“We will look into these bottlenecks and obstacles and try to untangle them one by one. Japan has proven to be a reliable partner in overseas employment,” Ople said.