Many people have dreamed about what it’s like to not just travel, but to live and work in another country. For those dreamers, a working holiday may be the best option. Unfortunately, some might have negative images of working holiday participants. In some Asian countries, people say a working holiday is “just a way for young people to have fun in different countries,” “a gap in one’s career,” or “an escape from reality.” However, it may also be a turning point in someone’s life.
Taking a Chance Abroad
The Working Holiday program was first introduced in the 1970’s to encourage interpersonal exchange between partner countries with a focus on young adults aged 18-30 years old. The program initially comprised a relatively small number of countries, but now has about 60 partner countries across the world. Working holiday participants are granted 12-month visas and placed in industries that struggle to secure labor, such as tourism, hospitality, and agriculture. They primarily take on low-skilled or temporary work because jobs requiring specialized skills are often limited to locals. Australia, one of the most popular working holiday countries, granted approximately 194,000 working holiday visas in 2023-2024.
Total number of Working Holiday visa applications granted in Australia in 2024
Data via Australian Government, Department of Home Affairs
More Than A Vacation
For those who have never considered a working holiday, it’s easy to criticize the program and decide not to support it. However, rather than thinking of it as a vacation or gap in a resume, we should recognize it as a form of global learning and a great energizer to a more inclusive world. Fostering cross-cultural communication skills, language development, independence, resilience, adaptability, and decision-making leads to both personal and professional growth.
In fact, my sister-in-law experienced just that on a working holiday program. As she was American-Japanese, she always wanted to challenge herself and see how well she could handle day-to-day life outside of Japan. A working holiday was the perfect program to make her dream come true. She was a digital marketer at a famous British electronics manufacturer based in Tokyo for about 6 years, until she paused her career to participate in a working holiday program. Throughout her one and a half years in Sydney and Cairns, Australia, she learned so much about herself. Working as a sales manager, a tourist conductor, a waiter, and a farmer also taught her a lot about various industries.Despite the common bias against working holidays in Japan, her experience enabled her to obtain a manager position in a well-known American apparel brand after returning home.
Fostering a Global Perspective
We must acknowledge that stepping outside your comfort zone and home country can be life changing. In the current global market, having global mindsets, knowledge, and skills is absolutely necessary to keep competing. For that reason, some Asian countries like South Korea are now encouraging young people to participate in international programs like working holidays. To make the most of these opportunities, companies and societies should play a more active role in supporting the international development of their people, both young and old. You never know where the world will go next, so do everything you can to capture diverse perspectives and insights.
This article was written by a guest contributor, R. Ogura.
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