Japan’s distinct culture and technological advancement has been among the obstacles Filipinos aiming to work there as domestic workers have to overcome.
Training for housekeepers, as they are more appropriately called, involves care for items commonly found in Japanese households such as teapots, tatami mats and toilet bowls, notable for their elaborate features seldom found back in the Philippines.
Rovie Ebanculla is one of Filipinos who underwent training as one of 25 so-called “professional housekeepers” to be deployed as first batch of Filipino workers to Japan through staffing agency Pasona.
Inside a room simulating a typical Japanese home, at the Magsaysay Center for Hospitality and Culinary Arts, they perform tasks they are expected to do upon deployment in Kanagawa Prefecture, in a few weeks.
Besides Kanagawa Prefecture, foreign housekeepers will also be allowed to work in Osaka and Tokyo.
Under Japan’s old immigration policy, foreigners are allowed to work only in homes of diplomats and very few selected others. This has been revised as “special zones” were established to allow foreign housekeepers to be employed in three regions.
The amendment is part of Japan’s growth policy to address its rapidly aging society and help Japanese women re-enter the workforce after having babies.
Makiko Sawafuji, manager of Pasona’s housekeeping unit acknowledges that recruitment of workers has always been a big problem for the company, and Filipinos will help address the understaffed industry. With virtually no limit in the number of foreign workers hired in each so-called zone, Pasona envisions hiring 1,000 Filipino housekeepers over three years once it starts the deployment.
Starting at 10,000 yen (P4,394), Pasona will send a housekeeper to clean a client’s home twice a month for two hours each time.
Foreign housekeepers must have at least a year’s experience and a minimum of 200 hours of training. They must be employed full-time and receive the same pay as their Japanese counterparts, who usually earn around 120,000 yen to 180,000 yen a month, part time, according to the law.
Ebanculla, 36, used to work in Hong Kong as domestic helper. But she finds working in Japan more attractive, at least in terms of workload.
“In Japan,” she said, “we are only required to work for eight hours a day. It’s fixed.” In Hong Kong, she works as a stay-in helper, working almost round the clock.
“Even during the time when you are supposed to rest,” she said.
In terms of pay, Hong Kong domestic helpers are paid a minimum wage of HK$4,310 (P27,724). In Japan, housekeepers are reportedly paid around $1,500 or almost three times their wages in Hong Kong.
Once she starts working in Japan, Pasona will arrange for her lodging.
But even with her experience as a Hong Kong domestic worker, Ebanculla need to undergo even more training.
“For my job in Hong Kong,” Ebanculla said, “I trained for seven days.” For Japan, the training program spans over two months. It involves 400 hours of training that includes 300 hours on Japanese language and culture, and the remainder spent on actual work skills.
Magsaysay, Pasona’s Philippine training partner, shortlisted 67 women for the program, but only 28 made it to the training phase, and only 26 were deemed fit for deployment.
“Japan is totally different from where the rest of Filipinos work, like in the Middle East, Hong Kong and Singapore,” said Marlon Rono, president of Magsaysay People Resources Corp. “That is why training is very important. First, the skill that is needed and second the culture and language — [housekeepers] have to adapt to be successful in Japan.”