Filipinos tapped to lead Japan companies
Staff Report
CEBU - A growing number of Japanese manufacturers are tapping Filipino engineers and technicians to work as leaders in other parts of the world, according to a report.
Japanese companies are setting up core factories in the Philippines to standardize production, and then dispatch Filipino engineers to lead their factories around the world.
Cebu-based Tsuneishi Heavy Industries has been working to pass its expertise and skills to Filipino workers, according to Nikkei Asian Review. Tsuneishi Heavy Industries has been expanding its factory in Cebu where it builds container ships and big vessels.
The company currently employs 13,000 people, with 50 dispatched to Paraguay to work as technology instructors. Tsuneishi Shipbuilding Chief Director Kenji Kawano said the company’s goal is to dispatch engineers from Cebu as instructors in Tsuneishi factories around the world. It also plans to build a new shipyard in Southeast Asia and dispatch technology instructors there.
Toyota Motor is among those who employ Filipino workers for global assignment. Last year, Toyota Motor Philippines opened a school in Laguna that offers a two-year program in automobile maintenance and repair. Graduates will be eligible to land jobs as mechanics at Toyota-certified car dealers anywhere in the world. English-speaking Filipino mechanics have been often headhunted by dealers abroad.
Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen is run mostly Filipino crew members, who make up 70 per cent of the workforce. It also appointed the first Filipino captain of a liquefied natural gas tanker.
For Japanese companies, one of the benefits of establishing core factories in the Philippines is the nation's English proficiency, making it easier to explain technology.
