Finding a job in Japan as a foreigner can be challenging, but success stories like this one show that opportunities are growing every day. In this exclusive interview, we spoke with people from Odakyu Highway Bus Co., a bus company in Japan, about how they successfully recruited talented foreign workers through Guidable Jobs. Their insights not only highlight the growing demand for diverse talent in Japan but also provide valuable advice for anyone looking to kick-start their career in this exciting market.

Interviewee
Mrs. Yoko Watanabe from Odakyu Highway Bus Co.

What made you decide to start hiring foreigners? Is that because shortage of Japanese workers?
Yes. We are looking for bus drivers, but there are not enough drivers in Japanese bus industry today. Due to changes in the law and reforms in the way we work, the number of hours each employee can work has been reduced, so we will need more drivers to continue the same number of runs as at present.
Recently, we have been hiring women, elderly people, and people who have just graduated from high school, but even so, we are still short in numbers. So we asked Guidable this time for help from foreign residents.

Did you have any concerns when you started recruiting foreigners?
At first, I was worried about whether it would work out. However, several people applied for the position, and I actually had a chance to talk with many of them. My impression was that many of them were earnest and hardworking. The first person we hired this time also had a very good personality, and the executive director, who was watching the interview, immediately recommended hiring him.

When a company starts hiring foreigners, we often find that only a few people in the company see the potential, and the rest of the department is not enthusiastic about it. So isn't it important to see how the first person who joins the company works?
I really think that is true. When I told the company that I wanted to hire foreigners, everyone disagreed. The company's signs, rules, and bus stop signs were written only in Japanese. Many said, “How will they remember the rules?” or “What if they can't remember the name of the bus stop?”
But for my part, I was aware of the problem of not having enough people. It seemed that without the help of foreign people, there was even a possibility that the job would not survive. In the end, my boss agreed with me, and we were able to proceed with the hiring of our first foreign national this time without incident.

In this case, we did not receive any applications for the first three months. However, your company continued to use our service, and we were able to hire one person.
I expected to be hired within a month or so, but it turned out to be quite difficult.
Also, once the decision was actually made to hire, it was very hard to prepare the company to accept the new employees. There are various documents such as about work rules and transportation rules. Many people in the company assisted us in putting furigana on these documents.

Is there a role you would like Mikko, the first foreigner hired, to play in the company in the future?
I hope he will do his best to accommodate foreign customers.
From now on, 80% of the passengers on the buses that Mikko will actually be in charge of are foreigners. With the current drivers, they cannot respond when spoken to in English. We believe that he will play an active role in this project.
I would be happy if other foreign residents would apply for this job after seeing Mikko in action. I would also be happy if Japanese drivers could learn English from him and enjoy serving foreign customers.

What level of reading, writing, and speaking did you expect when you were interviewing? I understand that your company did not require a qualification such as the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT).
Bus drivers are in the customer service industry, so I think it is necessary to have the ability to understand Japanese to some extent. I could tell that Mikko was able to understand the questions I asked during the interview because he was able to answer them correctly.
For work, you only need to remember where the bus stops are, and there is no situation where you have to read some complicated document while driving. Therefore, if you have a certain level of conversational ability, I think you can handle it to some extent even if you do not have a certification such as JLPT. It is important to be able to communicate.

I see. What are people's impressions of Mikko in your company?
Mikko is an honest and communicative person, which makes the atmosphere in the company brighter. He is also a young person, so his seniors take good care of him.

Did the company offer any support for obtaining the license?
We supported Mikko by guiding him to a driving school in Nagano. The company also covered all the expenses. Also, all meals are provided at the driving school, so we are offering generous support during the period of acquiring the license.
Incidentally, a “Large Class 2 License” is required to drive a bus, but from the spring of this year (2024), it will be possible to take the license in English and other languages. I think this is a big change for the industry.

Do you have any future outlook or plans regarding the hiring of foreign nationals? Also, do you have any message you would like to convey to those who are interested in working as drivers?
In fact, many of the customers who use the buses are foreigners, partly due to inbound demand. We would like to increase the number of foreign staff as much as possible.
We do not discriminate in our treatment of Japanese and non-Japanese employees. If you are interested in taking on a challenge, we will support you generously, and we would like you to apply for a position.

Interviewee
Mr. Mikko Agilos
Nationality: Philippine

Were you nervous when you actually went to the company for the interview?
Yes, I did.

Were there any particular areas of concern?
It was Kanji, after all.

"Is there any reason or impetus for you to become a driver of large buses?
At first I wanted to be a truck driver. But I was looking for a job online, and the best requirement was to be a bus driver.

Was the exam difficult?
I think it was a little more difficult than the standard car test. Driving a large car was not difficult.

By the way, what was your reason for studying Japanese?
I started studying seriously about six months ago. I have a son, and he speaks Japanese, so I started studying thinking that he would make fun of me when he gets older.

So that was the reason. Last question. Do you have any hopes to become like this or to take on this kind of challenge in the future?
I don't have anything specific in mind yet, but I would like to start with this company and do my best anyway. I would like to try my hand at driving an express bus.