Nagano City and Career Field Inc. Sign Partnership Agreement for New "Childcare Worker Recruitment Model." "Team Nagano" to Solve Issues with Full Effort.

Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture (Mayor Kenji Ogihara), the Nagano City Kindergarten and Certified Children's Center Federation (Chairman Wada), the Nagano City Private Nursery Association (Chairman Watanabe), and Career Field Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative: Yuichi Tsuzuki), a company specializing in recruitment support for the childcare industry, signed a four-party partnership agreement on July 6, 2026, for the sustainable recruitment and training of childcare workers.

This agreement, unlike conventional, single-faceted childcare worker recruitment measures, is centered around a collaborative structure of "Team Nagano," uniting the administration and key regional early childhood education and care organizations. By reorganizing existing regional resources, it will launch as a "zero-budget childcare worker recruitment model" without requiring new municipal budgets, with the aim of future expansion to other areas within Nagano Prefecture.

▼ Specific Measures of "Team Nagano" Under This Partnership Agreement

This initiative is a systematic scheme for childcare human resource recruitment that connects high school students through early outreach, support for working adults to obtain qualifications, and subsequent employment and retention, all as a unified regional effort without fragmentation. In particular, the strong collaboration between both kindergarten and nursery school associations is rare nationwide and represents a region-wide childcare human resource recruitment model that transcends the boundaries of traditional vertical administration and individual facility recruitment activities.

The specific measures will be promoted along the following two axes:

1. For High School Students: Building a Systematic Vocational Experience Program

To foster potential future childcare workers from an early stage, we will build a career education infrastructure that allows high school students in the city to systematically experience the practical environments of kindergartens and certified children's centers. To ensure it goes beyond just a fun experience, we will construct a system that incorporates "career path design," "local employment," and "return migration."

2. For Working Adults: Implementation of a "Municipality-Collaborative Qualification Acquisition Support System"

To alleviate the financial strain on facilities caused by high fees paid to recruitment agencies, we will establish a regional system for qualification acquisition support utilizing "Cocoteri Academy" under the backup of the municipality, targeting local residents. This system will create an environment where individuals can aim to obtain childcare worker qualifications while working, fostering new childcare workers within the region and connecting them to local employment without the need for new municipal budget allocations.

Future Outlook: Expanding the Nagano Model to "All of Nagano Prefecture"

Under this agreement, we aim to establish a practical model of four-party collaboration in Nagano City, the prefectural capital and a core city, integrating administration and private early childhood education and care organizations. Based on its outcomes, we aim for expansion to other areas within Nagano Prefecture.

We will present a region-led childcare human resource recruitment model that can serve as a reference for neighboring municipalities facing childcare staffing challenges and private businesses struggling with recruitment costs.

Career Field Inc.

Career Field Inc. (https://www.career-f.com/) is a company that provides recruitment support services specializing in the childcare industry. With over 20 years of experience in supporting recruitment for childcare facilities, the company operates "Cocoteri," a media platform for childcare students, plans and produces recruitment PR, and runs "Cocoteri Academy" which supports childcare workers in obtaining qualifications, offering on-site support for the human resource challenges in the childcare industry.