TRADESSkilled Trades Field Manual
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OCCUPATIONS

01Construction Manager02Architectural Designer / Architect03Electrical Work, Electrical Safety & Fire Equipment Inspection04Plant Maintenance Technician05Automotive Mechanic

MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN

04Plant Maintenance Technician

Keep the line running. If it stops, bring it back fast.

You inspect a factory’s production equipment and utilities such as HVAC, compressors and power receiving equipment, fix breakdowns, and improve equipment so it breaks down less. The work is often split into mechanical (drives, hydraulics, pneumatics) and electrical (sequence control, motors, inverters).

SPEC SHEETNo.04
Job openings ratioMachinery maintenance & repair workers (incl. automotive repair) / FY2025
4.043.7× all jobs
Est. annual payGeneral-purpose, production & business machinery and electrical machinery maintenance & repair workers / avg. age 42.7
¥5.71M
Key licenses
Certified Machine Maintenance Technician（機械保全技能士）3rd-class Chief Electrical Engineer（電験三種）Electrician（電気工事士）

Sources: 一般職業紹介状況・雇用関係指標（年度）2025年度 — Employment Referrals for General Workers, FY2025 (MHLW) / 令和7年賃金構造基本統計調査 — 2025 Basic Survey on Wage Structure (MHLW, Mar 2026). Full-time only: 4.50. Overtime 18 hours a month (all occupations: 11 hours).

01 WORK

What the job involves

A

Inspection & preventive maintenance

Inspect equipment on schedule and replace parts before they fail.

B

Breakdown response

Find the cause of a line that has stopped and get it running again.

C

Improvement

Modify and improve equipment so the same failure doesn’t happen again.

D

Maintenance records

Keep a history of inspections, failures and repairs and use it for the next plan.

Where you’d work

In-house factory maintenance section

Your lines are assigned. Work tends to pile up on equipment shutdown days.

Service departments of equipment makers

Field engineers visiting customers’ factories. Lots of business trips and travel.

Maintenance contractors

Stationed at multiple factories. The range of experience depends on the site.

Building & facility management

Mainly HVAC, electrical, water and drainage. 24-hour facilities have night duty.

02 LICENSE

Steps to getting licensed

No license is required for the maintenance work itself. Public vocational training (Polytech Centers, etc.) offers electrical and mechanical maintenance courses (check availability in your area). The National Trade Skills Test（技能検定）in machine maintenance starts at Grade 3.

  1. STEP01
    NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED

    Start as a maintenance assistant or operator

    No license is required for maintenance work. You can also learn the basics through vocational training.

  2. STEP02

    Certified Machine Maintenance Technician（機械保全技能士）Grade 3

    A national skills test (Human Resources Development Promotion Act). Mechanical and electrical maintenance work

    FY2025: 7,064 applicants, 5,285 passed

  3. STEP03

    Machine Maintenance Grade 2 → Grade 1

    Move up grades with practical experience (check eligibility with the testing body)

    FY2025: Grade 2, 6,215 passed / Grade 1, 3,813 passed

  4. STEP04

    Class 2 Electrician（第二種電気工事士）

    Needed if you do electrical work such as modifying wiring yourself

  5. STEP05
    GOAL

    3rd-class Chief Electrical Engineer（電験三種）

    Factories and buildings with power receiving equipment must appoint a safety supervisor

    FY2025 pass rate 13.0%

National Trade Skills Test “Machine Maintenance,” FY2025 (31,534 applicants across all grades, the 2nd most of all 133 trades)

GradeApplicantsPassed
Special grade676260
Grade 19,1223,813
Grade 213,2006,215
Grade 37,0645,285

Source: 令和7年度「技能検定」の実施状況 — FY2025 National Trade Skills Test (Gino Kentei) statistics (MHLW, Aug 2026). Some pass rates are calculated from the numbers of examinees and passers.

See the license roadmap for all five trades →

03 PAY & DEMAND

Pay and job openings ratio

FIG. Estimated annual pay of machinery maintenance & repair workers by age (¥ million)
4.12
20–24
5.48
30–34
6.16
40–44
6.80
50–54
6.95
55–59
5.11
60–64

Source: 令和7年賃金構造基本統計調査（一般労働者・企業規模10人以上） — 2025 Basic Survey on Wage Structure (regular employees, enterprises with 10+ employees) (MHLW, published Mar 2026). Estimated annual pay = scheduled monthly cash earnings × 12 + annual bonus; an estimate made by the source material (not an officially published figure). Regular employees at enterprises with 10+ employees.

JOB OPENINGS RATIO

4.04

Machinery maintenance & repair workers (incl. automotive repair) (FY2025)

Full-time only: 4.50. That works out to about 4.0 job openings per job seeker.

Source: 一般職業紹介状況（職業安定業務統計）・雇用関係指標（年度）2025年度 — Employment Referrals for General Workers, FY2025 (MHLW, published 2026). Through Hello Work, regular employment incl. part-time.

04 WORK STYLE

Working conditions & rule changes

More overtime than average

Actual overtime is 18 hours a month (11 hours for all occupations). Sudden breakdowns or work concentrated on production shutdown days may be factors, but the statistics don’t confirm the reasons.

Shifts & on-call duty

Factories running 24 hours are often said to have night shifts and on-call rotations (no official data on the share).

A shortage of trainers

62.8% of manufacturing establishments list “a shortage of people to teach” as a problem in developing staff (2026 White Paper on Manufacturing).

Overtime cap

The general rule applies (in principle 45 hours a month and 360 hours a year). Manufacturing has no grace period or exemption.

05 FIELD CHECK

Ask this on your visit.

On a visit or trial day, ask the people on site about the things a job ad doesn’t show.

  1. Q1

    Who will teach me after I’m assigned? Is there an OJT plan?

    WHYOver 60% of manufacturing establishments say they lack people to teach.

  2. Q2

    How many times a month are there call-outs or holiday work?

    WHYThe maintenance staff on site are the best people to ask about on-call rotations and call-outs.

  3. Q3

    Is the role mechanical or electrical? How many lines would I cover?

    WHYIt changes the skills you gain and how busy you are.

  4. Q4

    Do you support exam fees or pay allowances for the skills test or 電験?

    WHYAt some companies, licenses are a requirement for promotion.

Visit a workplace in this trade before you choose.

With Cura, you can apply for a visit or a paid trial day without a résumé or interview. It’s free for job seekers.

The Cura app is in Japanese.（クーラのアプリ／サイトは日本語です）

Visit a workplace near you→

NOTE / READING THE NUMBERS

  • There are no statistics for “plant maintenance” alone. The openings ratio is for “machinery maintenance & repair workers,” which includes automotive repair, and the wage is for “general-purpose, production & business machinery and electrical machinery maintenance & repair workers.”
  • Wages by prefecture are not shown on this page because the samples are small and vary a lot from year to year.

SOURCES

  1. 一般職業紹介状況（職業安定業務統計）・雇用関係指標（年度）2025年度 — Employment Referrals for General Workers (Public Employment Security Statistics), employment indicators by fiscal year, FY2025 (MHLW, published 2026)
  2. 令和7年賃金構造基本統計調査（一般労働者・企業規模10人以上） — 2025 Basic Survey on Wage Structure (regular employees, enterprises with 10+ employees) (MHLW, published Mar 2026)
  3. 令和7年度「技能検定」の実施状況 — FY2025 National Trade Skills Test (Gino Kentei) statistics (MHLW, Aug 2026)
  4. 第三種電気主任技術者試験の試験結果と推移 — 3rd-class Chief Electrical Engineer exam results and trends (Electrical Engineer Examination Center, FY2025)
  5. 2026年版ものづくり白書 概要（厚生労働省パート） — 2026 White Paper on Manufacturing (Monozukuri), summary of the MHLW section (MHLW, May 2026)
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