I have worked for a company that employed workers via TITP and then via SSW programs, I have been a part of the volunteer expat support groups that regularly dealt with the immigration issues, including the ones with the SSW program.
Look, on one hand I'm glad that it worked out for you, that you had enough work-life balance to study and get certified for the SSW2 program and you're content to stay on it until you're physically unable to work anymore or somehow find a way to qualify for a permanent residence under the new guidelines for both you and your wife.
On the other, the story is full of caveats:
- company hiring in that sector has to be well-managed and well-behaved (oversight is often superficial compounded by the fact that in a lot of cases, the hiring company and the employer-of-record are actually 2 different entities);
- you have sufficient time and energy to skill-up after work, especially if it's physical labor;
- you have sufficient funds to skill-up;
- in case you need to change your job, you're not in distress from the current employer or financially.
I don't know what your cultural background is. In my worldview, these programs are inhumane. Humane variant is this: if you (collective "you", Japan) deem the person worthy of coming here and changing the bedpans of your elderly when none of the Japanese youth wants to do it for the same salary, you get the fuck out of the way unless this immigrant breaks your laws, and at that point you deport them. But if they come here and obey your laws they should have the reciprocal security in their old age, not conditional on how well they test on JLPT and for sure not conditional on unrealistic expectation of earning significantly more than an average Japanese worker.
P.S. Socializing is nice. You can still go and pick up the non-existent trash when you're on a Eng/Intl/Humanities visa and even on PR. Just saying.
Look, on one hand I'm glad that it worked out for you, that you had enough work-life balance to study and get certified for the SSW2 program and you're content to stay on it until you're physically unable to work anymore or somehow find a way to qualify for a permanent residence under the new guidelines for both you and your wife.
On the other, the story is full of caveats:
- company hiring in that sector has to be well-managed and well-behaved (oversight is often superficial compounded by the fact that in a lot of cases, the hiring company and the employer-of-record are actually 2 different entities);
- you have sufficient time and energy to skill-up after work, especially if it's physical labor;
- you have sufficient funds to skill-up;
- in case you need to change your job, you're not in distress from the current employer or financially.
I don't know what your cultural background is. In my worldview, these programs are inhumane. Humane variant is this: if you (collective "you", Japan) deem the person worthy of coming here and changing the bedpans of your elderly when none of the Japanese youth wants to do it for the same salary, you get the fuck out of the way unless this immigrant breaks your laws, and at that point you deport them. But if they come here and obey your laws they should have the reciprocal security in their old age, not conditional on how well they test on JLPT and for sure not conditional on unrealistic expectation of earning significantly more than an average Japanese worker.
P.S. Socializing is nice. You can still go and pick up the non-existent trash when you're on a Eng/Intl/Humanities visa and even on PR. Just saying.