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© Thomson Reuters 2023.Young Indonesians train to fill caregiver jobs for aging Japanese
By Zahra Matarani JAKARTA©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
28 Comments
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tamanegi
Give these young Indonesian people a path to permanent residency in Japan otherwise the paltry salaries and potentially poor conditions they'll be working in may see many return home quick smart .
Nadrew
That’s absolutely what needs to happen.
justasking
I work with Indonesian people; they are kind and work hard and so I hope they are given fair wages and respect that they will deserve for the hard work they must endure in this field.
nonu6976
I live across the road from an old people home - the care staff are all young Filipina girls. Apart from then I only see ambulances regularly arrive and depart…
Stephen Chin
A very good idea? Japanese is not an easy language to learn quickly! And, because Japan's old population is growing rapidly every day, Japan will have to be in a hurry to employ more trained foreigners - in this case young Indonesians. It will be much easier for young Indonesians to learn Japanese if they are shipped to Japan first, so that they can hear and practise speaking Japanese being spoken every day. But even then, it won't be easy and, it may take several years before they can understand and speak Japanese fluently. In any country, old people are often hard-of-hearing and, their pronunciation of their own language may confuse their young Indonesian carers. And the pronunciation and understanding of the Indonesians carers may be difficult for old Japanese people to understand. It won't be an easy idea to carry out successfully and, it is also going to take Japan very many years to train Indonesian carers of old Japanese people successfully and, the cost for the Government will climb to many millions if not billions of yen. This is not a very good idea or plan to train foreigners to care for Japan's growing numbers of old people. Why not train young Japanese successfully in a few months for the job and alleviate the jobbing market as well?
Yrral
I know this Mexican woman,her mother has dementia,she is the primary caregiver,I know it taken it taken a lot out of her mentally,I always do a little favor for her,and see how she holding up, I go and check on her
Jimizo
I’d like to spend some of my retirement days studying.
WW2 has always interested me. I might be able to to read a small fraction of the books written on the subject.
Yubaru
First was the Philippines, then Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia, now Indonesian. Japan is running out of countries to look to for help.
Yubaru
This is what happens when you have poorly trained and poorly paid staff being in charge of elderly patients.
It's sadly common here in Japan, and I can share from experience, it's a hell of a lot worse than the examples you gave here, in some places!
David Brent
180,000 yen per month before taxes.
Yubaru
If you have ever worked in the facilities, or a hospital, you would instantly understand why. Underpaid, crappy work conditions, and a host of other reasons, will explain why these jobs are not being filled.
These "helpers" are on the bottom of the totem pole of any facility, and they get treated like crap.
It's not surprising to me at all that these ongoing program is not successful for the things these trainees have to go through to even get a position.
cleo
Because not many young Japanese want to work as carers?
Aly Rustom
exactly!
Aly Rustom
Or just simply don't know what its like living and working here.
they'll find out soon enough.
There you go.
In Japan, legal is a grey area.
kurisupisu
Japan doesn’t have a choice and it will have those willing to take low wages.
The wage of a fully qualified nurse dealing in specialist matters is 400,000 yen
A non specialist half that.
purple_depressed_bacon
More slave labor disguised as an "opportunity". They're better off seeking work in countries that actually value their employees and have in place, proper human and employee rights.
kurisupisu
What happens if patients need to be restrained?
Dementia is a problem, right?
Foreigners tying up Japanese?
Doesn’t make for a positive image nor does it preclude the possibility of irate relatives complaining about ill treatment.
Andy
There are 10 young Indonesians nearby being paid less than sen Yen per hour and living in slum like conditions sharing one room. I wonder if this treatment is even legal.
nakanoguy01
I have only this to say to those Indonesians thinking of coming here: run, don't walk, away! What may look like a "promising" job in Japan is filled with long hours, low pay and a bunch of ingraites.
Mocheake
Good luck to them. They will be used, abused, underappreciated and then sent packing unceremoniously. Wham, bam and barely a "Thank you, ma'am."
kyushubill
Yeah, but the news has got out that this is just a slave salary paid for a very grueling job that in Japan has no path but to be sent on your way after 5 years and having to jump through hoops. Thay can't even fall in love and get married on these visas. Slave labor.
William77
They better choose a different destination.
If they want to remain in Asia other countries offer better working conditions,human rights treatments and better salaries with options to make a life in their destination countries.
The LDP ultra conservative ojaji are not seeking for these people coming from abroad to give them a good like but just spoil them and send them back.