Efforts to hire foreign workers are expanding at welfare facilities in Hokkaido that provide services for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. In the first fact-finding survey conducted two years ago by the „Hokkaido Welfare Association for People with Intellectual Disabilities“ (Chairman Isao Ogaki), 25% of the responding organizations employed foreign workers. Even after the survey, new facilities have begun hiring foreign workers, highlighting the widespread shortage of welfare personnel, not limited to elderly care facilities.