Returning to Fukushima – Only 18 people have decided to take up jobs in Fukushima despite government job programme

Only 18 people have decided to take up jobs in Fukushima Prefecture through a government plan to find employment for those who fled due to the nuclear crisis, according to regional labor bureaus. 

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry set up a special section in May to support Fukushima evacuees at seven of the government’s “Hello Work” job placement centers in five prefectures.

Eighteen people had decided to return as of the end of January.

Labor bureau officials said there are jobs in Fukushima, but little interest in them. They believe many of the evacuees have resettled elsewhere and also worry about returning to Fukushima as the nuclear crisis drags on with no end in sight.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Few displaced residents returning to Fukushima despite government job aid | The Japan Times.