Protecting the Future of Water Infrastructure: Changes Born from Collaboration with and Development of Foreign Nationals

Q.Why did your company decide to take on interns? What did you aim to achieve?

Since about 2019, we realized that the labor shortage due to the declining birthrate and aging population was becoming increasingly severe, and we began to think seriously about how to protect jobs in water infrastructure, which is essential to society, in the future. Our company is a small organization, so we are limited in our ability to secure human resources when relying solely on Japanese people. Therefore, we began to consider recruiting foreign nationals. Specifically, we were looking to recruit highly skilled foreign nationals who could play the role of site supervisors familiar with equipment, water supply, and civil engineering work.
I personally did not have significant anxiety about recruiting foreign nationals, but gaining understanding within the company was not easy. I heard comments like, “Why recruit foreigners instead of Japanese people?” There were many employees who voiced such concerns or felt anxious about language and communication.
Therefore, we decided to participate in this project with the aim of first creating opportunities for employees to interact with foreign nationals to deepen their understanding of interns coming from a foreign country, and to make the preparation for future acceptance a learning opportunity not just for the company but for each employee. I also had a desire to acquire a sense of judging matters from an international perspective in our business, which is rooted in the local community, using this program as a catalyst.
And we had the pleasure of connecting with Orkhon (hereinafter referred to as Ogi-san) from Mongolia this time. Initially, there were voices of anxiety from employees regarding intern acceptance, but once he actually joined the site, his youthful energy as an 18-year-old spread throughout the company, and thanks to his approachable, honest, and serious personality, employees were stimulated and able to foster warm communication.

Getting to Know the People at Work, Knowing the Work, and Broadening Horizons.
Experiencing the Reality of the Workplace by Engaging With a Variety of People and Their Work.

Q.What kind of internship did you run? What difficulties did you face and how did you resolve them?

While we simply use the term "equipment, " our business is extremely broad, covering drainage, piping, air conditioning, heating, and fire extinguishing equipment, so it cannot be grouped into one category. Therefore, this time, we provided him with a wide range of practical activities, focusing on CAD-based design and on-site construction experience. This was because we wanted him to know the existence of diverse jobs through conversations with people from various departments and to feel our work from his perspective.
Furthermore, with the hope that it would be an opportunity to expand his future possibilities, we actively had him engage in tasks that would be difficult to experience in a college of technology curriculum, such as accounting, the General Affairs Department, and sometimes accompanying sales staff to bidding sites. We wanted him to gain a wide range of experience by interacting with employees from all departments.
In the office, we created places where communication naturally occurs, such as lunches with employees and events, hoping that the entire experience in Japan, including life as well as activities, would become a source of growth.
Thanks to his positive and bright personality and strong Japanese language ability, communication was very smooth, and in fact, through his every action such as "looking at a person's face and greeting them with a smile, " we were reminded of important attitudes we had forgotten. He learned quickly, and many employees were stimulated by his diligent attitude of immediately studying words he didn't understand and asking questions the next day. Participating in the internship was a big step forward in refreshing the air for both the company and myself.

The Attitude of Employees Changed through Collaboration with a Young Intern.
Rising Motivation for Recruiting Foreign Nationals

Q.Comparing before and after the internship, what effects did it have on you, your employees, or your organization?

The biggest change I felt before and after accepting the intern was the atmosphere of the company. Even things that employees thought were "taken for granted, " such as teaching him and arranging opportunities for meals, became warm interactions because he always conveyed his feelings of gratitude, sparking a desire in employees to "be more helpful" and "teach more." It was a period where we realized once again that it is not a one-way relationship of teaching and being taught, but a relationship of "mutual support" where we respect and teach each other beyond hierarchies and differences in nationality. His attitude prompted us to reflect on the path we should pursue, and I am convinced that both the company and its employees were able to grow as a result.
He himself seems to have strongly felt the importance of water infrastructure through this technical experience. He mentioned that he believed our company’s technology could help improve his home country, and I was deeply impressed that he held such a high-level perspective on how he could give back what he had learned to his homeland, despite being only 18 years old. For the realization of his dream, our company has also promised technology provision and support. We look forward to continuing our relationship beyond simply making this internship a memory, and to working together on water‑related projects in the future. And as a company, we are positively considering actively hiring foreign nationals going forward.
Change comes after you take a step forward. Nothing changes if you don't take a step. That is why I felt once again through this internship that it is important to take even one step or half a step forward.