Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. is seeking to hire foreign workers with the newly established "specific skills" residence status to conduct decommissioning work at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, according to sources.
TEPCO explained the plan to several dozen companies at a meeting in late March, including affiliated firms that specialize in hiring workers. Behind the move is the ongoing labor shortage that has made it difficult to secure a sufficient number of workers.
The special skills status inaugurated this month is aimed at securing employees that can immediately start to work in fields that are suffering from severe labor shortages, such as construction and agriculture. To obtain the status, applicants must pass a Japanese language examination and an exam for their specific skill.
After conferring with the Justice Ministry, TEPCO determined that work at nuclear power plants falls under the specially designated fields of "construction" and "industrial machinery manufacturing" in which foreigners are qualified to work. The company then informed affiliated firms that it was now possible to recruit workers with the special skills status for decommissioning work. Whether they actually hire such workers will be left up to the firms.
According to TEPCO, about 4,000 people work at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant each day on average, and 29 foreign nationals were engaged in the work at a certain point in February.
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