DOLE downplays drop in Japan’s hiring of entertainers

The slump in the hiring of Filipino entertainers in Japan is just temporary with the Philippines soon to recapture the market, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) maintained yesterday.

"The market is there and we are not going to lose it," Undersecretary for Employment Danilo Cruz said in reaction to latest official figures showing a 38-percent drop in the deployment of overseas performing artists (OPAs) in Japan in recent months.

Cruz noted the DOLE is now coordinating with recruitment agencies to come out with measures that will enable Filipino entertainers to comply with Tokyo’s stricter visa requirements.

However, Cruz expressed confidence that Filipino entertainers would eventually be able to comply with the requirements, and more of them would be hired back in Japan in the coming months.

Cruz added the labor department has offered to assist local recruitment agencies in putting up a school that will provide a two-year education program for prospective OPAs — a prerequisite under Japan’s new laws in the hiring of foreign entertainers.

According to Cruz, local recruitment agencies are having difficulty complying with the requirement because there are no schools in the country with a two-year education course for entertainers.

Under the new policy enforced by the Japanese government last March, prospective OPAs must have spent two years at an educational institution and have two years of working experience in an entertainment venue outside Japan. — Mayen Jaymalin