A new employment format for specific skilled workers, in which workers work in different locations depending on the season, is attracting attention. Here are two newspaper articles about it.
Newspaper article summary
New working styles for foreigners with specific skilled worker: “agriculture” in summer and “ski resort hotel” in winter to address labor shortages and benefit both sides (NBS Nagano Broadcasting 2024/12/17)
In Nagano Prefecture, an initiative has been started to allow foreigners with specific skilled worker to work in ski resort hotels during the winter when there are no agricultural jobs available. This initiative has benefits for both the foreigners and the hotels.
The 11 foreign staff members work in agriculture in the summer and work in the hotel’s restaurant and assist with cooking in the winter. Previously, they would return to their home countries in the winter because they were unable to change jobs, but this initiative has resolved the hotel’s manpower shortage and allowed the foreign staff members to continue working without returning to their home countries.
This system was made possible by AIC, an employment support organization for foreigners, which supports people who use their specific skills to work in the restaurant industry. This season, three Indonesians are working at a hotel in Hakuba Village, and there are plans to expand this initiative to other areas.
“Relay dispatch” to secure manpower: Foreigners move around the country during the farming season (Kyodo News 2024/05/02)
As a measure to address the labor shortage in agriculture, “relay dispatch” utilizing foreign human resources is attracting attention. Under this system, foreign workers move around the country every few months to coincide with the busy seasons, which vary by region and crop, and help with harvesting work. This allows farmers to secure the manpower they need during busy periods, and allows foreign workers to learn skills while working all year round. In hopes of resolving the labor shortage in cherry harvesting in Yamagata Prefecture, Nagasaki Prefecture began an initiative in 2019 to dispatch foreign workers with “specified skilled worker” qualifications to farms across the country. As of the end of March this year, 183 people had been employed, and they have also been dispatched to Hokkaido and Nagano Prefecture.
My thoughts after reading the article
Among the specified industrial fields under Specified Skilled Worker No. 1, only agriculture and fishing are permitted to work in a dispatched form. Even if the dispatching agency (specified skills affiliated organization) is the same, if the dispatched location is different, an application for change of residence status is required.
Therefore, both the former (agriculture and hotel) and the latter (relay dispatch to Hokkaido and Nagano Prefecture within agriculture) need to apply for permission to change their residence status. The documents to be attached to the specific skills residence application are huge (about 40 types), but once he/she has them all ready the first time, it is relatively easy from the second time onwards. I think the routine is to apply for permission to change residence status about three months before changing his/her place of work.
Such schemes will likely be used increasingly in the future, not only in the agriculture and resort hotel industries mentioned in the article, but also in fishing and the construction industry in areas with heavy snowfall.