OSAKA - At a special nursing home in Kadoma, Osaka, foreign caregivers have become an essential part of operations. One of them is Chandra, a 39-year-old from Indonesia, who has been working at the facility for a year and a half under Japan’s Specified Skilled Worker visa program, which allows foreigners with certain skills to work in sectors suffering from severe labor shortages.
Though Chandra is not a certified care worker, her experience and dedication have made her indispensable.
"I help with bathing and assist the elderly with daily needs. They’re kind to me, and I’ve gotten used to the work," said Chandra, who also cared for her father in Indonesia for seven years.
More than half of the 46 care workers at the facility are foreign nationals, compensating for the chronic staff shortages. "We're also trying to hire Japanese workers, but the situation is difficult. Foreign workers have become essential," said a facility representative.
While staffing issues affect the care industry as a whole, the situation is even more severe in in-home care services.
Wearing a helmet and riding her bicycle to work, Yen, a Vietnamese caregiver, provides in-home care to elderly residents in a housing complex. A certified care worker, Yen has been working as a home helper for the past three years. She handles about 30 assignments per week across five days.
"I was the only one doing in-home care from the beginning. No one else joined after that," she said, highlighting the acute labor shortage in the field.
In fact, only those who hold the care worker qualification are allowed to engage in in-home care among foreign workers, making recruitment even more challenging. The job-to-applicant ratio in nursing homes stands at 3.24 to 1, but in in-home care, it exceeds 14 to 1—meaning that for every 100 job openings, only about seven applicants come forward.
"Even in facilities, we’re desperate for staff. No one applies for in-home care positions outside the facility," said another staff member. "People also need time to study and prepare."
In response, the government has expanded the scope of foreign workers allowed to engage in in-home care starting this month. Those under Specified Skilled Worker and Technical Intern Training programs may now be permitted to work in this field under certain conditions.
However, not everyone is optimistic. "In-home care is one-on-one. Communication in Japanese with users and their families is essential, and I think that’s still a big hurdle," said an industry observer.
Compared to institutional care, in-home care requires greater flexibility and adaptation to the lifestyle and needs of each client. According to one survey, over 60% of facilities said accepting foreign workers for in-home care was difficult.
Hamada, an industry expert, stressed that support from the government is critical to make foreign worker participation viable. "We need continued Japanese language education. Assistance with educational materials and funding for training would be extremely helpful," he said.
Source: Television OSAKA NEWS
