There is a continuing demand for health workers from the Philippines in Japan. This increases the number of Filipino nurses and caregivers to be candidates for deployment under the Philippine-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement.

The eighth batch of candidates under the JPEPA is composed of 340 Filipino health workers, 63 of whom are nurses and 277 are caregivers. This is the biggest batch since the program started (in 2009). Currently, there is a total of 398 vacancies, of which 77 are for nurses and 321 are for caregivers.

The 340 health worker candidates are currently undergoing preparatory Japanese language training, which started in November 2015 and will end in May 2016. After preparatory language training, the candidates will depart for Japan in June 2016 to undergo another six months of Japanese language training.

Once they pass the language training, they can undertake on-the-job training at the 210 nurse and 392 careworker facilities in Japan.

In 2015, a total of 293 workers—75 nurses and 218 caregivers—were deployed to Japan under the JPEPA program. Since 2009 a total of 1, 265 health workers—413 nurses and 852 caregivers—were deployed under the program.

Other than nurses and caregivers, the JPEPA’s program on labor migration include other professionals with specialized skills, such as lawyers, accountants, taxation consultants, and engineers.

—From the Department of Labor and Employment