Opportunities for Japanese (Charlotte, Greenville: employment, school, salary)

[danone19]

We are considering relocating to one of the bigger cities in the Carolinas/Georgia and one of the requirements is that my wife can match her skills to the market. In the Charlotte area, are there opportunities for Japanese that one may find in Atlanta?

[DawnW]

I don't really understand the question.....

There are plenty of Japanese in the Charlotte area. Our church actually has a Japanese congregation with the entire service in Japanese.

Are you looking for Japanese people specifically or does your wife need to match her skills reguardless of her nationality?

Dawn

[BarbJ]

I'm not sure about your question either. Do you mean employment opportunities for a Japanese speaker? Are you asking if there are as many such opportunities as there are in Atlanta?

Like Dawn I know that there are many Japanese in Charlotte most of whom are here as employees of a Japanese company, but I do not know the figures to make an accurate

I know that there are almost 70 Japanese companies in Charlotte. These companies support a Japanese Saturday school for children if their Japanse employees. In addtion, there is a Japanese immersion program for grades K-6 at Smith International Language Academy. For more information I would contact Maria Domoto at:

Japan-America Society of Charlotte
Contact: Maria Domoto
Executive Director
105 W Morehead Street,
Charlotte, NC 28202
phone: 704-332-3800
email: jasc@bellsouth.net
www.us-japan.org/jascharlotte

Maria is bi-lingual and is very knowledgeable about everything Japanese in Charlotte.

[danone19]

She is looking to match her skills and professional experience regardless of her nationality. We have bumped into a few Japanese at the corner Japanese market and around town but nothing more than a brief hello and chit-chat. Anway, she worked for a Japanese corporation in California and for an embassy in Tokyo. In these situations, she was able to use both English and Japanese as well as command a competitive salary. In Greenville, SC there is the presence of Japanese and other for foreign firms but there is not much of a need for her since the staff is nearly all local staff meaning Japanese is not necessary. This coupled by manufacturing shift work, retail, foodservice, banking and healthcare are the big industries meaning nothing for my wife unless she wants to reinvent herself. It would be easier to find the jobs that she had in the past then to try to reinvent the wheel.

We are considering relocating to Atlanta which would be a good fit for her. Before I go ahead and commit to Atlanta, I want to check on the other cities in the region.