Japan, facing labor crisis, eyes hiring 100,000 skilled OFWs

Japan is now poised to hire at least 100,000 skilled overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to address its

worsening labor shortage amid its aging population.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said it has met with representatives of the Ministry of Japan for the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in November, which will allow the entry of more OFWs in Japan.

Unlike the existing Philippine-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (PJEPA), which only covers Filipino nurses and caregivers, the new MOU will allow Filipinos from other skilled and semiskilled professions to work in Japan.

Bernard Olalia, Labor undersecretary and POEA officer-in-charge, said the MOU will no longer be under a government-to-government arrangement and instead will allow the participation of Philippine recruitment agencies (PRA).

“Those who will be deployed (under the proposed MOU) will be hired not only by government institutions but also by private companies,” Olalia said.

He said they are also negotiating with the Japanese government to ease its recruitment requirements, particularly with respect to language language, to allow more Filipino applicants to qualify for the proposed program. “Once the agreement is signed, we expect a higher deployment for Japan,” Olalia said.

In line with this development, Olalia said they are now considering Japan among the possible alternative markets for OFWs, who may be displaced in South Korea due to its growing diplomatic tension with its Northern counterpart.

The Japanese government is currently facing increasing pressure from its business sector to relax its rigid regulations for foreign workers due to its growing manpower needs.