Employers in the region of Kyushu, the southernmost and third largest island of Japan, prefer Filipino workers for their industriousness and fast learning ability.

In a post outreach mission report, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Osaka, cited the employers’ preference in the region for Filipino workers for their industry and ability to learn fast.

“The employers were very appreciative of our efforts to reach out to them, particularly amid the pandemic, and expressed their hope for the lifting of the ban on foreign workers due to coronavirus,” Labor Attache Elizabeth Estrada told Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III in her report.

The POLO visited the worksites of OFWs in vulnerable occupations, particularly in the performing arts and agriculture sectors, and consulted with the employers on the issues and concerns on Filipino workers and labor documentation.

The POLO team also checked the working and living condition of the OFWs and promoted the Philippine government’s programs for the Filipino migrant workers.

The employers also commended POLO’s sharing of information and documents on the prescribed processes and documentary requirements for both the Specified Skilled Workers (SSW) and the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) and the common mistakes that the POLO-Osaka has observed in the evaluation of labor documents with Japanese translation.

The Specified Skilled Worker is a status of residence applicable to foreigners who work in jobs that require considerable knowledge of or experience in specified industries while the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) also known as Skills and Technology Transfer Project is an arrangement between POEA and Japan International Training Cooperation Organization that allows the acceptance of skilled workers.

Seven of the eight prefectures of Kyushu are under the jurisdiction of POLO-Osaka, namely, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima.

The region has around 27,000 OFWs. DMS