Employment for Skill Development starts April 2027: what changes from technical intern training
Japan's Technical Intern Training Program is being replaced. On April 1, 2027 a new system called Employment for Skill Development (ESD, called ikusei shuro in Japanese) takes effect under a law promulgated on June 21, 2024 (Act No. 60 of 2024) (Immigration Services Agency page, in Japanese). With six months to go, here is what employers and workers should know.
A different goal
Technical intern training was designed as international cooperation: Japan passed skills on to workers who would take them home. ESD is openly about Japan's labor shortage. Its purpose is to train people, through three years of work in fields short of staff, up to the level of Specified Skilled Worker (i) and to keep them working in those fields (ISA overview, revised July 2026, in Japanese; an earlier English outline is also available).
| Item | Technical intern training | Employment for Skill Development |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | International cooperation through skill transfer | Training and securing workers in fields with labor shortages |
| Length | Stages 1 to 3 | Three years in principle, plus up to one more year if the worker fails the Specified Skilled Worker (i) exams |
| Changing employer by choice | Not allowed | Allowed within the same job category, under conditions |
| Oversight body | Supervising organizations | Supervision and support organizations, licensed and required to have an outside auditor |
| Moving to Specified Skilled Worker (i) | Tests waived after good completion of stage 2 | Must pass a skills test and a Japanese test at A2 level or above |
The timeline
- April 15, 2026: applications opened for licenses for supervision and support organizations.
- September 1, 2026: applications opened for approval of individual ESD training plans.
- April 1, 2027: companies can actually start receiving ESD workers.
These dates come from the ISA's ESD Q&A (in Japanese).
Which fields, and how much Japanese
As of July 2026, of the 19 fields open to Specified Skilled Workers, only two are excluded from ESD: automobile transportation and aviation. Fields were added by a cabinet decision on January 23, 2026.
Before starting work, an ESD worker must pass a Japanese test at A1 level or above, or complete at least 100 hours of A1 level classes at an accredited Japanese language institution. The goal over the three years is to reach A2 and pass a test at that level.
Changing employers
As before, workers can move when there is an unavoidable reason such as violence or harassment. What is new is that they can also move by choice if they meet certain conditions. The main ones: they have worked past a minimum period set for each field at between one and two years, they have passed set skills and Japanese tests, and the new employer is rated as a good employer under the system.
One condition deserves attention. According to the Q&A, the worker must not have used a private job placement agency to arrange the move. Voluntary transfers are meant to go through Hello Work, the supervision and support organizations and the new public body that replaces the Organization for Technical Intern Training, so private agencies like ours are not part of that route.
Dispatch is limited to farming and fishing
The ISA overview states that under both the Specified Skilled Worker and ESD systems, worker dispatch is allowed only in agriculture and fisheries. For ESD dispatch, the dispatching and receiving companies must prepare the training plan together and have it approved.
If you are a technical intern now
Interns already in Japan on April 1, 2027 can finish their approved plans. Moving from stage 1 to stage 2 remains possible. Moving to stage 3 is limited to people who, on that date, have already spent at least one year in stage 2.
Other changes on the same day
The same law raises the penalty for facilitating illegal employment to up to five years of imprisonment, a fine of up to 5 million yen, or both, from April 1, 2027 (e-Gov law database, in Japanese). It also requires companies that outsource support for Specified Skilled Worker (i) employees to use a registered support organization (ISA summary of the amendment, in Japanese).
Our own work centers on dispatch and placement of foreign residents who already live in Japan. If the start of ESD has you rethinking how your workplace takes on foreign staff, or which statuses fit which roles, we are happy to talk it through. Reach Sincero Global by phone at +81 90 7841 8887, by email at [email protected], or on LINE.
