bad luck

[Patch66]

bad luck, just heard significant part of my work going to be offshored, if I am not given option to move to Singapore then its game over with current Employer. As I have only been a local Employee for 2 years Im trying to figure out best approach.
I transferred over to Tokyo so Employer paid flights, 1 month accommodation, shipping , deposit, key and agent fees and guarantor on apartment BUT Im essentially a local hire. I understand it is hard to make someone redundant in Japan so much so Employers go down the route of asking staff to "volunteer" to leave, Im assuming they dangle a bigger carrot in terms of financial compensation in such cases. I also heard you can refuse this, not sign and then Employer has to go down the route with local government of proving your role is redundant, taking upwards of 6 months. My Japanese is limited and my salary pretty good so chances of getting a like for like or similar financial package in Japan are remote. I guess I have to figure out if compensation offered to volunteer to leave outweighs time taken to confirm or otherwise if my role made redundant and monies saved during that time, I guess also if confirmed redundant the compensation offered will be less than offered if I volounteered to leave. Grateful for confirmation on above and anything I may of overlooked. Thanks

[larabell]

Your description coincides with what I've heard before but, never having been in that position, I can't confirm the rules with any certainty. You should definitely check with your local city/ward office. Most have some kind of assistance program for non-Japanese residents (on a limited schedule, of course) so you can probably find out what your rights are as an employee, just to be safe.

As for jobs... things are pretty tight these days, especially if your Japanese isn't all that good. However, if your current employer paid good money to import you from elsewhere, I'm assuming you must have some sort of skill that isn't as easy to find locally in Japan. You should leverage that by contacting other companies in the same field (or possibly customers and/or clients -- but maybe that's best left for later... after you know you're really going to be cut).

It's also possible your current company, assuming they're not closing down the Japan office altogether, might have another position available. Even if you're not the best choice for the other job, they might find it less costly than going through the trouble of getting you off the payroll and hiring someone else. If you've built up a decent reputation, you might be a better choice than hiring someone off the street who nobody knows.