Covering the business of education and training

Major Japanese companies, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Fujitsu Ltd, Asahi Kasei, Sumitomo Wiring Systems...are beginning to hire more overseas exchange students studying in Japanese universities, realizing that a culturally diverse work force is one that is better equipped for overseas expansion.

Matsushita plans to double the 100 foreign workers on its domestic payroll over the next three years.

Fujitsu aims to recruit and hire 30 foreign exhange students among the 585 new college hires this year.

Chemical firm Asahi Kasei Corp will hire 10.

Sumitomo Wiring Systems Ltd. will take on 10-15 new exchange students.

"According to the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau, the number of exchange students changing their visa status to work in Japan surged 11.7% on the year to 5,878 in 2005 -- double the figure from five years earlier."

"A survey conducted by Mainichi Communications Inc. from January to March shows that 16.7% of listed companies were aggressively recruiting foreign exchange students, up 3.1 percentage points on the year."

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