JR East to start training foreign nationals under new skills program
East Japan Railway (JR East) will launch training programs in the current fiscal year to March next year for foreign nationals seeking certification as specified skilled workers in railway maintenance.
The training follows the addition of the railway sector in March 2024 to the list of eligible industries under Japan's specified skilled worker system, which is designed to secure work-ready personnel from overseas amid acute labor shortages.
JR East is also encouraging other railway operators to join the initiative.
On March 5, the company conducted trial training sessions for 25 trainees from Indonesia and Vietnam at its large-scale training center in Shirakawa, Fukushima Prefecture.
The training, which was open to the media, covered the three areas of rolling stock, tracks and electrical facilities. Participants learned about the mechanisms of train doors using a model and practiced operating an electrical device for switching tracks.
The sessions were conducted in Japanese, occasionally involving complex technical terms. "We try to rephrase (technical language) into simpler Japanese as much as possible," one instructor explained.
To obtain residency status in Japan as a specified skilled worker, trainees must pass an examination administered by an industry association. The training program, which lasts about four weeks, is designed to prepare participants for the exam.
Those who successfully pass are expected to work primarily at partner companies of JR East starting this summer.
"Railway services in my country are inconvenient, so I came here to learn and make a difference," Agis Hadi Rahayu, a 26-year-old trainee from Indonesia, said in Japanese. "I want to work as long as possible and become a professional engineer."
JR East covers the cost of the training, including travel and accommodation expenses.
"We hope to develop this into an open platform that helps secure human resources for the entire railway industry," said Naoyuki Sakaguchi, manager of the company's human resources development unit.
JR East aims to train around 100 people each year, and more than 10 railway operators have already expressed interest in joining the initiative, according to Sakaguchi.
The inclusion of the railway sector in Japan's specified foreign skilled worker system reflects a growing shortage of track maintenance engineers, a problem that has led to daytime train service suspensions and the rescheduling of last-train departures to allow for maintenance work.
According to government estimates, the railway industry is projected to face a labor shortage of about 18,400 workers by fiscal 2028, largely due to difficulties in hiring young people amid the low national birth rate. To help address the shortfall, the industry plans to accept up to 3,800 specified skilled foreign workers.
There are two types of residency status for specified skilled foreign workers in Japan: Type 1, which allows stays of up to five years, and Type 2, which has no time limit. Currently, only Type 1 is available for the railway sector.
"Many people would be willing to take on the challenge if Type 2 status were available," Sakaguchi said, expressing hope that the railway industry will eventually become eligible for Type 2 to enable long-term employment.
Those who complete a mid-level technical internship program are also eligible for certification as specified skilled foreign workers.
In November last year, a Vietnamese woman who had worked as a technical intern at Surmit Kogyo, a railway vehicle manufacturer in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, became the first individual to be granted residency status as a specified skilled foreign worker in the railway industry.
In the railway sector, specified skilled foreign workers will be welcomed not only for maintenance work and vehicle manufacturing but also for transportation roles such as conductors and drivers.
Given a growing shortage of drivers, particularly among local railway operators, non-Japanese drivers with specified skills may take the controls in the future.
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