[Customer Feedback] We've resolved our chronic labor shortage. Now, about half of our employees have specific skills! (Reliance Limited Company)

[Customer Profile]

Reliance Limited Company

With four factories across the country, the company is a manufacturing plant that handles everything from purchasing raw materials to packaging and commercializing food ingredients, primarily sugar. Currently, about half of the company's employees are foreign nationals, and the company is committed to developing global human resources.

This time, we spoke with Mr. Sugawara and Mr. Okabe, the factory managers of Reliance Kasukabe Factory, Ltd.!

────What prompted you to start hiring specific skilled workers?

A chronic labor shortage has been a long-standing issue, and we were thinking about starting to employ foreigners using the Specified Skilled Worker system when we received a proposal from Mr. Kawamura of the Food and Beverage Association. It was perfect timing, so we decided to introduce it right away. That was in March of last year, and although we had no experience employing foreigners up until that point, we started by accepting two people, and now, a year later, we have a total of 13 foreign employees working at our factory. Now , the ratio of foreign employees to Japanese employees is about half.

──At that time, you were already considering accepting specific skilled workers. Why did you choose our association as your support organization?

Yes, we considered several registration support organizations, but the reason we decided to ask the Food and Beverage Association was, first of all, the personality of the sales representative, Mr. Kawamura (laughs). The timing of the proposal was good, and after listening to what Mr. Kawamura had to say, we felt we could trust them.

Another advantage is that they cater to a wide range of nationalities . Even though they're foreigners, there will be compatibility with different industries depending on their nationality, and I thought it was appealing that they have a strong network with job seekers of various nationalities. In addition, the support staff are multinational, and being supported by people of the same nationality as the foreign talent gives me peace of mind knowing that they can handle not only the language barrier, but also the culture and customs .

──What do you think is good about employing foreign talent?

As I mentioned earlier, we have been able to hire 13 foreign employees in just over a year, which I think is a great thing as it has allowed us to quickly resolve our labor shortage . Our factory mainly manufactures and processes sugar, and most of the process is done by hand. Therefore, it would be impossible to operate the factory without them, so all of our foreign employees are a valuable asset to us.

In addition, I feel that the workplace as a whole has become more cheerful . All of the foreign employees have really cheerful personalities and are proactive in communicating. By starting to employ foreigners, we have been able to hire younger employees in their 20s, which I think is a great thing as it has energized the factory.

──Please tell us what you did or were conscious of when accepting foreign talent.

Naturally, I thought there would be some hurdles for foreign employees to understand and master the work compared to our previous Japanese employees. So, before the foreign employees joined the company, I made it clear to the existing employees that they should speak slowly when explaining things and be conscious of how they interact with others.

Furthermore, we also provide translations into their native languages for work manuals and notices in the workplace . Specified skilled workers have acquired a certain level of Japanese proficiency and are qualified, so I think they can understand things in Japanese, but we hope that having information written in their native language will help them understand more easily and that they will be happy to see their native language in the workplace.

──Please tell us about what it's like for foreign employees to work.

The Myanmar employees supported by the Food and Beverage Association are truly excellent and work hard. Japanese people often say things like, "I'm tired" or "I want to rest" (laughs), but the Myanmar people say things like, "I want to work more!" and "I want to learn this and that." They are highly motivated, so they learn the job very quickly .

Some of the work requires physical strength, and even those of us who have been doing it for many years can feel tired at some stages, but they handle it with ease. I am always impressed by how energetic and physically energetic they are as they tackle their work.

──What are your expectations for foreign employees in the future?

Just the other day, we had a foreign employee who became our first leader . Regardless of nationality, we want to give fair recognition to hard-working employees and encourage them to continue to play an active role . I think that by gaining experience in leadership positions like this, it will also lead to the option of becoming a "Type 2" Specified Skilled Worker in the future. Once you become a "Type 2" worker, there will be no upper limit on the length of employment, so I would be delighted if they continue to play an active role for a long time.

In addition, our company still needs more personnel, so we would like to actively hire and train talented foreign personnel, including those with specific skills.

Thank you to Mr. Sugawara and Mr. Okabe of Reliance Kasukabe Factory for your valuable insights!

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The Japan Food and Beverage Association for Foreign Employment

We support companies that want to start employing foreigners .

Through our own network,

Securing the talent companies are looking for - interviews - starting work and providing support afterwards

We provide comprehensive support.

"We want to resolve the labor shortage."

"We want to promote globalization"

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us !