https://asia.nikkei.

com/Spotlight/Japan-immigration/Japan-moves-to-let-foreign-trainees-change-

jobs-after-1-year

Japan moves to let foreign trainees change

jobs after 1 year
Flexibility and broader visa access proposed to improve troubled system

Japanese companies have used the international trainee program as a source of labor in fields such as
construction. (Photo by Eri Watanabe)

TAISHU YUASA, Nikkei staff writerOctober 19, 2023 02:28 JST

TOKYO -- Foreign workers in the system replacing Japan's troubled

international trainee program could change jobs after a year if they meet
certain requirements, such as basic Japanese language knowledge, under a
proposal released Wednesday by a government panel.

The new program outlined in the draft report would allow trainees to move on
to a different employer in the same field after spending more than a year at
one company, if they pass a basic skills test and the Japanese Language
Proficiency Test at N5, the lowest level.

The current technical intern program, which does not allow job changes
except in extraordinary circumstances, is being scrapped amid criticism of
how trainees are treated, from low pay to human rights abuses.

"This is an important turning point in Japan's history of foreign immigration,"

Akihiko Tanaka, president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency and
head of the panel, told reporters after Wednesday's meeting.
A final version of the report, due out this year, will be used to draw up the new
system to be submitted to parliament next year.

The draft proposal would let workers initially stay in Japan for three years.
They could then qualify for a specified skilled worker visa if they pass a more
advanced skills assessment and the N4 level of Japanese profiency, letting
them stay for as long as five years.

This provides a pathway to a level 2 visa that can be renewed indefinitely,

opening the door to long-term employment.

Trainees in any occupation would be allowed to gain skilled worker

visas. Those who fail the tests could stay in the country for one more year as a
stopgap.

The international trainee program is being reworked to make Japan a more

appealing destination for workers. A weak yen has diminished the appeal of
working in Japan, even as demand for foreign labor grows in other Asian
countries with aging populations such as China and South Korea.

The program had come under fire as workers burdened with debts to
unscrupulous brokers went missing to find better-paying employment
illegally, or stayed in jobs where they faced mistreatment such as unpaid
wages. Trainees received an average monthly salary of 177,800 yen ($1,190) in
June 2022, compared with 248,400 yen for foreign workers in general.

Japan will consider adding a provision to curb debts incurred to move to

Japan by having hiring companies cover any fees owed by trainees.

The draft proposal also includes stricter requirements for the organizations
responsible for bringing in foreign workers under the trainee program, as well
as increased outside oversight.

Workers changing jobs would not be able to move to a different field, such as a
farmworker going into construction. This could partly address concerns
among some lawmakers that such flexibility would lead to trainees moving to
cities to find higher-paying work.

The Japanese language exams could prove a tough hurdle for many, with
fewer than half of test-takers passing the N4 and N5 last December.

The old trainee program was touted as a way to contribute to the international
community by teaching skills to foreign workers. The new version will have
explicit goals of skill building and securing workers.
Eriko Suzuki, a professor at Kokushikan University, said Japan needs to create
a better environment for foreign trainees -- including allowing them to bring
family members to the country -- and to change the way it thinks about
coexistence.
Five Time Periods in the Study of Globalization and Media
1.Oral Communication

2.Script

3.The Printing Press

4.Electronic Media

5.Digital Media
DFA confirms 3rd Filipino fatality in Israel-Hamas war (cnnphilippines.com)

DFA confirms 3rd Filipino

fatality in Israel-Hamas
war
By Faith Yuen Wei Ragasa, CNN Philippines
Published Oct 13, 2023, 12:58:55 PM
Updated Oct 13, 2023, 5:54:04 PM

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) — The Department of

Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday confirmed the death of a third Filipino
— a 49-year-old woman from Negros Occidental — as a result of the
ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

“I regret to inform you that yes, it is confirmed. There is a third Filipino

casualty,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said in a
Palace briefing.

“Now we join the nation in extending our deepest sympathies to the

relatives of the latest casualty who was also a caregiver,” he added.

She was Loreta “Lorie” Alacre, a caregiver. Her family has given
permission to name her.

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In a Facebook post on Oct. 8 written in Hebrew, Alacre's employer Noam
Solomon said the Filipino worker — who was her “devoted” caregiver
for the last six years — was last seen early Saturday morning between
the cities of Netivot and Ashkelon in the southern district of Israel.
Hamas launched its attack at the time.

She learned that Alacre was with a man later located in a hospital in
Ashkelon after he was shot in the back, but no report was given to the
Israeli employer on the whereabouts of the Filipino woman.

During the briefing, De Vega said the family is already aware of the
death and the Philippine Embassy in Israel is in talks with the woman's
siblings residing in Kuwait for the repatriation of her remains.

Alacre’s family said they received the tragic news from the embassy
through a phone call after waiting for six days for updates on whether
or not she was safe. They last spoke to the OFW on Oct. 6, a day
before Hamas attacked Israel.

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The family said she was supposed to return home in December for her
50th birthday celebration.

"Masakit po kasi pumunta po siya diyan para mag trabaho pero ganito
ang nangyari [It hurts because she went to Israel to work, but this
happened]," her sister Ana Alacre told CNN Philippines.

Ana said Lorie tirelessly helped their family in the last several years,
even supporting the education of her siblings' children.

With her gone, Lorie's nephew said some of his cousins may be forced
to stop schooling.

The embassy earlier announced two Filipinos were killed in the ongoing
war between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

The other two confirmed deaths were caregiver Paul Vincent Castelvi,
42, from Pampanga, and a 33-year-old female from Pangasinan working
in Israel for six years.