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The number of foreigners working as permanent employees within Mie prefecture is on the rise. What kinds of companies do foreign employees work at? What kinds of initiatives are companies using to help foreign employees take on an active role?

Japan Material Co., Ltd./JM Engineering Service Co., Ltd.

Japan Material Co., Ltd. offers services to support the operation of factories that manufacture semiconductors and liquid crystal. In just 20 years, with its high technical capabilities, Japan Material has expanded its business, made deals with world-famous semiconductor and liquid crystal manufacturers and trades in the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Engineers employed by its subsidiary, JM Engineering Service, work in “cleanrooms” at their clients’ factories. They work carefully with fragile products with no room for error. In order to help them succeed in their work, the engineers receive around 6 months of training at the head office’s Technical Training Center after joining the company. Those who are able to pass the exam at the end of training can go to work on site. Currently, seven engineers from Vietnam are in training, and 13 have already completed their training.

We spoke with two engineers from Vietnam who just finished the in-house training.

• Engineer Truong Quoc Huy

I majored in mechatronics at a technical university in Vietnam. I was working at a Vietnamese company in America but I started going to a Japanese language school and joined this company in February this year. Now I am performing maintenance on semiconductor manufacturing equipment at the Toshiba Memory Corporation Yokkaichi Plant.

I’ve always liked robots, which is why I chose this job. It took me about 2 weeks to get used to the environment in Japan. I was having a hard time understanding Mie dialect in the beginning.

• Engineer Dinh Van Thien

I graduated from a technical university in Vietnam, majoring in electrical and electronic engineering, and proceeded to enter a Japanese language school in Tokyo. I started working at this company from April this year. I wanted to join the company so that I could make good use of what I have studied at university and the company also provides good benefits. I am glad I joined the company because the job site is beautiful and my peers are very helpful.

Both employees displayed a strong sense of responsibility towards their work, and their reputation within the company is excellent. The company said it would like to hire more Vietnamese engineers like them in the future. To ensure the employees are able to live safely and securely in Japan, the company has been offering support by doing things like building dormitories. One of the philosophies of the company is that “employees are family members”. This is reflected in how the company values its ​​employees regardless of their nationality. In turn, we were able to see how the employees also cherish the company and their coworkers.

Japan Material Co., Ltd.
Establishment: April 1997
Head office location: Mie-ken Mie-gun Komono-cho Nagai 3098-22
URL: www.j-material.jp

JM Engineering Service Co., Ltd.
Establishment: April 2014
Head office location：Mie-ken Mie-gun Komono-chō Nagai 3098-22
URL: jmes.jp

Ms. Park Soyoung, an international student attending university in Mie Prefecture, Mr. Ronald Woo, a foreign worker, and their assistants for this assignment Ms. Kaiju Satsuki and Mr. Nishida Ryoki conducted interviews at Japan Material Co., Ltd.

The article is posted here:

Articles coverage by foreign reporters
www.mief.or.jp/jp/gaikokujinkatsuyaku.html
(ジャパンマテリアル株式会社) (Japanese · Korean · English)

A report meeting is also scheduled.

Business visit report meeting
Date and time: Saturday, December 8, 2018 13:30 ~ 15:15
Place: UST Tsu 3F (Tsu-shi Hadokoro-cho 700)

This project was produced with a subsidy from the CLAIR (Council of Local Authorities for International Relations).