Currently our two specified skilled foreign workers are employed in the production department making desserts. They are entrusted with the whole process of making our signature custard pudding, from filling to baking, putting the finishing touches of piping on desserts such as Mont Blanc, as well as sorting products for shipment. They are also in charge of on-the-job training for new part-time workers and dispatch workers.

They are both quick learners who are good with their hands and they are highly regarded in the factory, both for their skills and for their personalities. When sorting orders for shipment, it’s important carefully check shipping details in order to sort products accurately, and we are always impressed with their hard work and how proactive they are about learning the Japanese labeling for shipping destinations. At our factory we fill cream bread and bean bread by hand, but when the two of them were in charge of bread production, we were pleasantly surprised to see that within less than a month of being assigned to the department they were able to fill the bread just as precisely as the other workers. In order to put their dexterity to good use, in the near future we are planning to train them to do delicate tasks that only a select few workers are able to do, such as evenly icing cakes with cream (nappe work) and rolling Swiss rolls.

In addition, the two of them are very helpful in supporting the technical intern trainees who are their juniors in the company. At our company we have 19 technical intern trainees and the two specified skilled foreign workers often act as interpreters between those trainees and our Japanese staff, so even as the number of technical intern trainees has increased, we have been able to smoothly incorporate them into the workplace. The two of them are truly indispensable.

In 2019 we began hiring foreign workers out of a desire to revitalize our company. Our factory is located in a residential area of Tokyo and luckily, we haven’t had any hiring problems thus far. However, we have many veteran employees, middle-aged and older and our workforce was becoming increasingly fixed, which created a sense of stagnation at the factory. Moreover, we also felt it was necessary to create a strategy that planned for anticipated future labor shortages.

Meanwhile, we heard about another company who had revitalized their workplace by hiring young technical intern trainees with a strong desire to work, so we decided to start some as well, in the hopes that they would bring a breath of fresh air to our company. The first technical intern trainees we hired at that time are the same two who now work for us as specified skilled foreign workers.

The atmosphere at our factory changed greatly after hiring foreign workers. It has become more cheerful, and lively voices can be heard here and there during break times. Also, because it is necessary to word explanations clearly when showing foreign staff how to do tasks, the same teaching methods have also rippled out to our training for new Japanese staff, thereby improving workplace communication. In order to build deeper relationships, we hold events such as barbecues and parties, and when the factory’s cooking staff made Vietnamese food and served it to everyone, it was a big hit! By hiring foreign workers, we’ve been able to experience previously unheard-of changes.

When hiring foreign staff, we focus on selecting people with an eye towards team building in our business organization, and we place a high value on politeness, cooperativeness, and a willingness to work hard. In interviews and technical trials people who are good at self-promotion and quick to finish tasks are certain to stand out, but those are not the only kind of workers we need for a successful workplace. We maintain an awareness of building an organization that will succeed as a team, and to that end, we want to hire a diverse balance of people — those who can lead, those who can follow, and those who can straightforwardly carry out their work without needing to stand out.

In terms of living arrangements after being hired, in order to ensure that the valuable workers who are revitalizing our company can continue to work stress-free, we show consideration for their private lives and have a basic housing system of one room per person. We have also created an online networking group for foreign and Japanese employees, and have established a system that allows for immediate communication in the event of illness or problems in the residence. In addition, we have plans to strengthen the support we provide by newly adding a Vietnamese interpreter to our staff.

We hope that our two specified skilled foreign workers will continue to improve their technical production skills and business skills with a view to acquiring Specified Skilled Worker (ii) visas. We also hope that the technical intern trainees will eventually continue to work with us over the long term as specified skilled workers. We are still in the conceptual stage, but in the future, we are considering expanding our business into the Asian market, and if we decide to do business in Vietnam, we would like to have our trainees, who have gained experience as specified skilled foreign workers, work there. We would like to create an environment in which foreign workers are not seen just as labor, but as part of our company’s “family” and in which they can continue to work with us over the long term.