Displaced entertainers in Japan may be hired as caregivers

Filipina entertainers displaced by Tokyo’s stricter employment rules may be hired as caregivers in Japan, local recruitment agencies said yesterday.

Local recruiters said a Japanese foundation is putting up a caregiver training school in Central Luzon to provide the required skills to those willing to work as caregivers.

"Japan Access for Filipinos Expertise Enhancement Foundation Inc. (JAFEE) is ready to accept displaced entertainers who are willing to work as caregivers in Japan," a recruitment official said.

JAFEE, a non-profit foundation accredited by TESDA, has been providing skills training to selected Filipino workers since 1996.

Most of their trainees were eventually hired in Japan.

The recruitment official said displaced overseas performing artists (OPAs) have the advantage in hiring since most of them can already speak the Japanese language Nihongo, one of the requirements of the Japanese government.

The official expressed optimism that entertainers who took up training in care giving would be hired as soon as Japan opens its doors to foreign health workers and caregivers.

The Philippine and Japanese governments are now negotiating the hiring of Filipino nurses and caregivers.

Earlier, Department of Labor officials expressed confidence that the hiring of Filipino health workers and caregivers would eventually offset the prevailing slump in the hiring of OPAs.

Thousands of OPAs have been displaced since the Japanese government imposed stricter measures in hiring of foreign entertainers since March last year. — Mayen Jaymalin