Regulatory Approaches to Managing Skilled Migration: Indonesian Nurses in Japan

This article examines the Japan–Indonesia Economic Partnership Agreement, an agreement that has allowed Japan to supplement its local healthcare workforce while continuing to sidestep the thorny issue of labour and immigration policy reform and Indonesia to increase its skilled workers’ access to the Japanese labour market at a time when it was making a concerted effort to reorient migrant labour flows away from informal sector occupations. Despite the programme’s many problems, it has contributed to the use of trade agreements as a mechanism for regulating labour migration, and so to the normalisation of migrant labour as a tradable commodity rather than a discrete area of policy-making, with all the attendant risks that normalisation brings

Solid waste disposal biodegradable materials by composting system

A laboratory scale mechanical composting system was designed to investigate how aerobic composting could contribute to solid waste disposal of biodegradable materials producing soil conditioner as a product. Solid wastes such as banana peelings and left over rice were used and had undergone pretreatment like grinding and drying before decomposition inside the digester. aerobic condition was attained through agitation and aeration of the compost during decomposition. Volume and mass reductions were determined after pretreatment (grinding and drying) and after decomposition. the C:N ratio reduction due to degradation of the refuse was also determined. The temperature and pH profiles were used to determine the degree of decomposition of the humus produced. Soil conditioner was produced after a nominal decomposition of one week and was found out to be stabilized

Overseas recruitment activities of NHS Trusts 2015–2018: Findings from FOI requests to 19 Acute NHS Trusts in England

Migrant nurses form an increasing proportion of the nursing workforce, with the United Kingdom [UK] being the third most popular destination for overseas nurses in the world. The migrant nurse workforce is highly susceptible to policy changes at the macro or professional level of the donor and recipient countries. Freedom of information requests were issued to 19 National Health Service [NHS] Trusts in England to determine their involvement in overseas nurse recruitment activity from 1998 onwards. These indicate a notable shift away from active European Union [EU] recruitment and towards overseas countries particularly the Philippines and India. Reasons given were: Diminishing returns from EU sources, high attrition among EU nurses, and the introduction of English language tests for EU nurses in July 2016. This led to Trusts revisiting their recruitment strategies by increasing more direct/less resource intensive methods, and expanding their focus outside of the EU. Trusts frequently utilised private recruitment companies for their recruitment drives, including consulting and influencing the Trusts’ workforce strategies. Policy adjustments have numerous influences on the composition of the overseas nursing workforce. Whilst the NHS continues its efforts in expanding its international nursing workforce this should not be at the expense of ethical and sustainable recruitment practices, which may be compromised indirectly as a result