Changing an elderly persons incontinence pants was one of the first challenges facing former air conditioning technician Naoya Kadohara when he switched to a job caring for elderly people several years ago. "At first it was very difficult. I didnt understand any of the terms people used. When I was told to change a diaper, I didnt know what to do," he said.
A similar shock could face many jobless Japanese if government efforts succeed in channelling some of the growing ranks of the unemployed to fill the gaps in the rapidly ageing countrys understaffed nursing homes. The reasoning behind the policy is obvious. One industry body estimates 400,000 contract workers will have been laid off in the six months to March 31, with manufacturing worst hit as exports dwindle in the global downturn.
But the nursing care sector in the worlds most rapidly greying country, already starved for workers, needs to add more than 120,000 people in the next two years. Yet teaching auto workers and other manufacturing specialists geriatric care is easier said than done. Prime Minister Taro Aso has announced 2 trillion yen in funding to help secure jobs, much of which will be spent by local governments on funding career changes into elderly care.
"Its a direct consequence, if you put two parts of an equation together, falling employment in manufacturing and a need for labour in the health care sector," said Martin Schultz, senior economist at the Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo. "The problem is the two dont go together very well." Similar attempts to funnel workers from one sector to another in Europe have met with little success, he added.
Tokyos nursing care services are suffering acute staff shortages, with 3.24 openings for every applicant. A new city-run programme will pay for basic training for would-be carers, and offers interest-free loans to help with career change expenses such as relocation and clothing. The loan will be waived if they stay in their jobs for six months. Many in Japans nursing sector point out that training in care techniques may not provide former factory workers with the emotional qualities needed to work with disabled elderly people.
"Its not that hard, but if you dont feel empathy with the elderly, it would be difficult to stay in this job," said Takako Furuno, 26, who has worked for five years as a carer at a Tokyo residential home, a career she set her heart on in her teens.
"The residents would know if you werent sympathetic," she added, after helping a group of elderly people with their afternoon snack of cake and coffee. Differences in life expectancy mean the vast majority of residents in Japans nursing homes are female and many prefer carers of the same sex, reducing the number of vacancies for the mostly male former factory workers.
While residential homes are dubious about the governments ideas, unions representing casual and contract workers are also unenthusiastic. "The reason that a lot of people go into nursing care work and then leave very quickly is that working conditions are so bad," said Makoto Kawazoe of Seinen Union.
Comments
Comments are closed.