In response to current chronic labour shortage in the country, Japanese firms have become more active in hiring foreigners and people with disability. Along with this trend, there are efforts to set up legal change on employment of the disabled and for overseas expansion, encouraging the job placement industry to organise various job fairs to meet the demands.

Amidst the ageing workforce in Japan, foreign students in the country are increasingly projected as potential manpower, along with women and elderly people. Additionally, companies are expected to recruit more people with mental illness, as well as those with physical and intellectual disabilities, in response to upcoming enforcement next April regarding to the revised law for employment of disabled persons.

The new revision will oblige employers to employ mentally-ill people and other disabled people. Regarding to this matter and to diversify the workforce, companies are already holding career fairs in response to cater various needs and characteristics of potential employees.

Among them is NODE Inc, a manpower agency targeting foreign students in Japan, which held a seminar in Tokyo in mid-September. Seven Japanese companies interested in hiring foreigners also took part in a seminar sponsored by the Tokyo-based staffing agency, including nursing care and real estate firms. About 30 students participating in the event were coming from ASEAN countries such as Vietnam and Thailand.

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At the seminar, the participating companies were trained about how to obtain legal work permits for potential employees and the benefits of employing foreigners. Meanwhile, the students were given advices on how to nail a job interview, Japan Today reports.

Since its first launching in 2014, NODE has organised 10 job-matching seminars, while inviting students from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and companies interested in hiring these foreign talents.

According to the government-backed Japan Student Services Organization, the total number of foreign students in Japan as of May 2016 has reached 239,287, indicating a rise of 14.8 percent from earlier year. Of this number, students from ASEAN countries make up more than a quarter.

Also in mid-September, Recruit Staffing Co arranged interview sessions that aims to recruit disabled people, by bringing about 20 companies and 40 job seekers in their 20s-40s in Tokyo.

Keisuke Tokoyo, president of IT firm Takes Co, said that organisation wants to secure manpower who can work for a long time, ahead of the scheduled mandatory employment of people with mental illness. By meeting directly with applicants, Mr Tokoyo said that company can learn about their personalities and characterities in person.

On the other hand, job seekers are also gaining benefits from attending such event, such as obtaining various information about jobs and access to many companies.

An official of LITALICO Inc, a job and education assistance service provider for disabled people, stated that corporate demand for holding interview sessions for disabled people sees a growing trend nowadays. The company co-hosted the September session with Recruit Staffing.

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