Luxembourg Offers 410,000 Yen/Month: Japanese Flood Farm and Dishwashing Jobs Amid Weak Yen

Australia’s “Working Holiday Visa issuance” reaches a record high, and the UK increases the acceptance quota for Japanese people by four times.

Luxembourg 407,092 yen, Australia 369,002 yen, Netherlands 346,575 yen, UK 343,809 yen, New Zealand 327,037 yen…

These are the “monthly wages” in the top five countries where Japanese people can do a working holiday (as of September 10, 2024). This was revealed in October by the study “2024 Working Holiday Minimum Wage Monthly Income Survey by Country” conducted by the study abroad agency “School With” (Tokyo).

A working holiday (or “Wahori”) is a system that allows people aged 18 to 30 to work while staying abroad for leisure or study. Japan introduced this system in 1980, starting with Australia, and it has since expanded to include 30 countries and regions (as of June 2024).

The monthly wages mentioned at the beginning are based on a survey conducted by School With, targeting 25 countries among the 30 that offer working holiday opportunities, which have set a minimum wage. The monthly wages were ranked by multiplying each country’s minimum wage by the required working hours.

In Japan, the minimum wage (per hour) is 1,054 yen, so if working full-time (8 hours × 20 days), the monthly wage would be 168,640 yen. Luxembourg, with the highest wage, is about 2.4 times higher than Japan’s.

While there is a lot of talk about working holidays these days, what is the reality? I spoke with Hideki Ota, the representative of School With.

“We are a study abroad agency, and we don’t directly introduce jobs in foreign countries. However, due to the weakening yen, the financial burden of study abroad has increased, and more people are opting for a combination of language studies and working holidays. While overseas travel has recovered to about 60-70% of pre-COVID levels, study abroad has rebounded to around 90%, so I believe it will return to 100% next year.” (Hideki Ota, hereafter the same)

Luxembourg, which was revealed to have the highest monthly wage in the survey, is likely to be receiving more attention as a working holiday destination.

“Luxembourg began accepting working holiday participants from Japan in June of this year. After this survey result, I tried to find people currently doing a working holiday in Luxembourg, but unfortunately, I haven’t found anyone yet.

The most popular countries are still English-speaking countries like Australia, Canada, the UK, and New Zealand.

In fact, the number of working holiday visas issued by Australia to Japanese people has reached an all-time high. Canada has a working holiday quota for Japanese people of 6,500, but it has already reached capacity this year. The UK has expanded its quota for Japanese participants to 6,000, which is four times the previous number, starting this year.”

Japanese people are flooding job openings for farm work and dishwashing where speaking English is not required.

Ota-san himself has experienced studying abroad. His motivation was as follows:

“The trigger was meeting Yoshinori Yokoyama, the former head of McKinsey’s Tokyo office. When I was in university, I had started a company with a friend, and it was going well. I thought I was invincible. Then, by chance, I had the opportunity to talk with him. He completely tore me apart, saying, ‘You’re misunderstanding what global means.’

At that time, I couldn’t speak English, and I only had one foreign friend. It was the first time I truly realized how little I knew about the world. I decided to ‘see what the world was like.’ Two years later, in 2010, I quit my company and went to the Philippines for a three-month English language study.”

How common is studying abroad for working adults in Japan?

“I think it’s about 30% overall. By the way, half of the students at our company are working adults. A lot of people in their mid-to-late 20s quit their jobs and go abroad for language study through the working holiday system.

The reasons for studying abroad as an adult include wanting to improve their English skills to advance their career or experience different cultures and overseas life. Some people want to earn money abroad, but in that case, they probably consider working holidays more than studying abroad.

But the most common reason is probably that, at some point in their long lives, people just want to live abroad for a year or so, without much of a specific plan or goal.”

Without clear goals or future plans, people casually go abroad for a working holiday. It seems unlikely that their stay will be meaningful.

“If you’re going to study abroad, it’s important to improve your English skills accordingly, or else you’ll end up asking, ‘What was that year abroad for?’ So, we tell our clients to approach it with a clear intention and plan, from studying English before departure to learning English during their stay. For those thinking about working while abroad, we advise on effective ways to study abroad to acquire the necessary English skills.

The reason is that without a certain level of English, the number of jobs available for working holiday participants is quite limited.”

The harsh reality of Japanese people traveling to Australia for working holidays has been frequently reported in the media.

“There were news reports showing young Japanese people in Australia waiting in line at a soup kitchen during their working holiday, which highlights how difficult it can be for some. The majority of Japanese people who can’t find work on a working holiday in Australia are those who arrived without being able to speak much English. The messages from YouTubers and influencers claiming ‘I’m making money’ have probably had some influence.

Additionally, since around last year, job hunting in Australia has become highly competitive. For example, farm and factory work, or dishwashing at restaurants, are jobs where you can get by with limited English. However, with the growing popularity of working holidays, young Japanese people have flooded these job openings at farms and restaurants, making it harder to find work. Those who struggle with English are at a disadvantage, and it seems there are a certain number of people facing difficulties.”

In Australia, it is possible to stay for up to three years with a working holiday visa if the conditions are met, but there may be people who give up and return to Japan before even completing one year.

“Even if someone goes with 1 million yen as their starting fund, the high cost of living can deplete it in about three months. If they can’t find a job during that time, they will have no choice but to return. It is said within the industry that around 20-30% of people face this situation.”

 

Successful people on a work-holiday

There are, of course, people who succeed in working holidays.

“For example, some people start working in Australia using the working holiday system, have their visa extended to the full three years with support from local companies, and continue working.

Others, after acquiring English skills, leverage other abilities such as programming or design to advance their careers. There are also many success stories of people with specific skills, such as sushi chefs, baristas, hairdressers, and nail artists.

However, success depends on how you define it. If you can leverage the experience of working abroad for one or two years and improve your English to advance your career, then that can be considered success.

The working holiday system itself is a fantastic opportunity, and I hope more Japanese people will use it wisely and go out into the world.”

Finally, Ota-san’s recommendations for “working holiday countries” are as follows:

“In Australia, during the pandemic, special ‘pandemic visas’ were issued to foreigners who couldn’t return to their home countries. It seems that many of these visas will expire this year. As foreign workers leave, the difficulty in finding jobs may ease somewhat. While we still need to observe the situation, Australia remains an essential choice for working holidays.

Since the number of people being accepted to the UK has increased this year, it might be a good idea to research what jobs Japanese people can get there and consider it.

If I had to recommend a country for those looking to challenge themselves, I would suggest Luxembourg.

If you’re interested in working holidays after improving your English skills, please feel free to reach out to us.”

Hidiki Ota (Founder & CEO of School With) Born in Miyagi Prefecture in 1985. He co-founded Oceanize Inc. with friends during university and worked on the advertising project ‘Tadacopi.’ After five years, he left the company and went to the Philippines for a three-month English study experience. He then traveled to over 50 countries for about two years. In 2013, he founded School With and became the CEO. He is also the author of books like “We Still Don’t Know the World by Even One Millimeter” (Gentosha Bunko) and “Super Affordable English Study Abroad in the Philippines” (Toyo Keizai Inc.).

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