We began accepting technical interns and other trainees about nine years ago, along with hiring specified skill workers, to ensure a stable supply of personnel for our manufacturing sites. As well as hiring technical interns and specified skill workers, we also have foreign nationals working within our company who were hired as full-time employees of our overseas business divisions. In addition, we sometimes employ foreign nationals to staff our manufacturing sites through Hello Work (government-run employment offices). We feel that we can hire these individuals without being overly conscious of them being foreign nationals, and we have a close-knit working environment.

Our company has overseas offices in China and Vietnam. We have hired former technical interns who had returned to Vietnam at our in-country subsidiary in the past. Promoting employees after they have completed their specified skill visas is something we will continue to consider. We are hopeful that these former workers will play an active role at our overseas locations in the future.

Staff at our Iga plant, which produces chocolates and other products, perform production line duties such as inspection and packaging. Japanese food products are amongst the highest quality in the world. We want our specified skill workers to acquire advanced sanitation and quality control knowledge, thereby maintaining this high level. In their private lives, our workers actively attend Japanese language classes and voluntarily take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, showing their high level of motivation to learn Japanese.