The Tatsuyama-mura Forest Cooperative set about securing new forestry workers in 1978, and improved its training organization. This paper describes the results of an oral survey of 83 new forestry workers who entered the Cooperative in the 1998 fiscal year, and investigates their hometowns, their present places of residence, present occupations, etc. From these data, the new workers were classified according to a combination of hometown, present place of employment, and present occupation, and each feature was analyzed. As a result, although 1/3 of the new instruction group members remain as employed staff of the Tatsuyama-mura Forest Cooperative, it became clear that the percentage of workers who remain in forestry, including those who left the cooperative, is a little less than 60%. The rate of those remaining in forestry is highest for people from nearby areas, followed by other areas, and then by Tatsuyama-mura. However, the non-forestry employed graduates of the program from Tatsuyama-mura changed to employment in the chief areas of the local economy, such as public offices, and therefore have a large influence on the local community. In addition, although the rate of employment in forestry of people from other areas is low, it is standard for society as a whole, and a strong tendency to transfer to different areas is seen in this group. It is assumed that their desire for self-actualization and to take advantage of special knowledge and technology is strong. Moreover, the people from other areas who continued in forestry returned to their hometowns in many cases, and the result of training in the instruction group is reflected in local forest cooperatives and local forestry management.
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