ACCOUNTING & FINANCE
FINANCIAL SERVICES
2018 saw a surge in hiring by a number of fintech companies, and many former bank employees successfully made career moves to the fintech area thanks to their expertise related to traditional financial businesses. Given the turmoil resulting from cyberattacks that illicitly transferred virtual currencies from crypto exchanges, the Japan Financial Services Agency is expected to impose more stringent regulations on these businesses. It will causes them to further expand the scope of their compliance and internal control functions. Major cryptocurrency exchanges are also hiring large numbers of audit professionals and internal controllers, and we expect this trend to continue in 2019. Companies in this growing sector are seeking experienced, knowledgeable candidates from whom they can immediately benefit. Age preferences are often stated due to relatively young management within these businesses, and there is often a preference for technological proficiency. There have often been limited budgets when compared to those of major traditional financial institutions, and more than a few junior- to mid-level professionals are making career moves to this area for its potential and appeal.
In 2018, the majority of searches for accounting and finance-related positions among financial institutions were conducted on a replacement basis. Some foreign-affiliated investment banks downsized, with the only roles open on a replacement basis and usually requiring proficiency in both English and Japanese. It is because these jobs often involved communication with the Japan Financial Services Agency. At the same time, they sought to move other functions such as data reporting to low-cost offshore or near shore locations. With increased awareness about boosting productivity, an increasing number of accounting and financial companies made preparations to deploy cutting edge technologies such as RPA for faster business operations. In need of specialists with expertise on data and technology for this purpose, companies in 2018 actively hired data analysts for individual projects such as financial and audit projects. Many project management offices (PMO) were also seeking financial specialists.
2018 saw companies in non-insurance sectors of the financial services industry entering the insurance market, and major insurance companies embarked on streamlining and promoting efficiency using technology. This led to a constant demand for financial, accounting and audit professionals with practical experience in the insurance sector, and we expect brisk recruitment in this area to continue in 2019.
Although demand is high for young Japanese English bilingual certified accountants, the pool of such accountants is small, causing demand to significantly exceed supply. Whereas there are a relatively large number of candidates for more senior-level positions such as section chief or higher, there are few young bilingual accountants available for junior positions. Since accountants are needed in all industries, not only in financial services, competition is intensifying for the best candidates. For instance, there have been occasions where particularly strong candidates obtained offers from three or more companies. Industries which have competed effectively against financial institutions include IT and pharmaceutical businesses, many of which provide comparable salaries to those offered by financial companies. In addition, many companies have started to offer higher bonuses to their best performing employees while maintaining competitive base salary levels.
Since younger candidates are more inclined to choose companies that not only offer competitive pay but where the nature of the business is new and exciting, the task of appealing to this group is increasingly challenging. Some prospective employees of lean traditional financial institutions often perceive a limited corporate ladder, and it is imperative to counter this impression by reviewing and upgrading benefits for outstanding employees.
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Companies in 2018 continued to hire high numbers of personnel, mainly for FP&A positions. More companies sought to hire new FP&A personnel. These people must be capable of offering detailed analysis and predictions on daily performance while also involving themselves in business planning. We also observed an increase in the number of junior and senior analysts. When recruiting for FP&A personnel, companies placed greater importance on soft skills in addition to general mathematical abilities and qualifications such as Certified Public Accountant (CPA and USCPA) and MBA. Foreign-affiliated companies favoured bicultural and extroverted individuals, with an increased tendency to highly value a candidate’s ability to act as a negotiator with people working in business (including sales and marketing). Other characteristics that have gained increasing appeal include the ability to think strategically and proactively so as to present solutions to business challenges on the basis of facts and figures.
Apart from accounting managers and analysts, the majority of accounting personnel have been outsourced to offshore locations. In 2018, companies mainly hired personnel on a replacement basis, and both the number of job offers and successfully hired employees fell below the previous year’s figures. Companies hired a certain number of accounting managers and senior management positions (e.g. controllers, financial directors and CFOs) to replace previous employees. Although accounting managers tend to supervise relatively small teams within Japan, they are required to possess soft skills such as in leadership and communication in order to collaborate with offshore locations. In addition to qualifications such as first (or second) grade bookkeeping, accounting positions require candidates who have careful and attentive dispositions. Although preferential treatment is given to professionals with experience in the same industry, few companies considered such experience to be a mandatory requirement for hiring. However, some companies in the manufacturing and healthcare industries often seek candidates who are looking to change their job from within the same industry or with similar conventions. It is because it takes a significant amount of time for the uninitiated to acquire a deeper understanding of products and product cycles. With regard to the aforementioned senior management positions, candidates with CPA and MBA qualifications receive favourable treatment in the recruitment process.
An increasing number of professionals with advanced mathematical abilities coming from the financial industry have moved to jobs in other industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, consumer goods or retail. In 2018, many people changed their jobs to join the fields of digital and IT, and an increasing number were also found to change to jobs in the medical, pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. These are considered stable markets due to the ageing population in Japan. The average salary in these industries is lower than in the financial industry, and in many cases annual income decreases after the job change. Nevertheless, many candidates sought to shift to a business with high growth potential from the viewpoint of future career prospects, and candidates favouring a good work-life balance were generally successful in their job changes. In recent years, an growing number of candidates no longer view salary as their primary motivation. They instead focus on the work to be performed and the growth potential, brand and contributions to society as key factors when changing jobs. Traditionally, it has always been more difficult for start-up firms to attract applicants compared to big businesses. However, start-up companies that feature prominent business growth potential, such as in the fields of digital and IT, have garnered an increasing number of applicants for job offers and have gained greater public favour.
The average salary offered at the time of hiring has risen compared to several years ago, owing to the imbalance between the supply and demand of talent. An increasing number of companies have started favouring candidates who have worked for multiple companies rather than those who have worked for a single company for a long period of time. In this way, more companies have tended to value adaptability and flexibility toward diverse workplace environments, corporate cultures and values. Such companies aggressively hire external talent in order to deliver new ideas and produce added value for their business. In light of the slow rate of wage increases in Japan, more and more professionals have noticed this change in attitude among companies. They see the shortfall in human resources and the recent state of the job market as a chance to consider changing jobs. The old concept of lifetime employment is being abandoned. We estimate that employees will generally start to consider changing jobs when their length of service at their current company reaches around five years (for senior management positions) or three years (for more junior personnel). Demand for FP&A hires continues to remain high in the Kansai region as well. Companies expect these hires to not only submit financial figures, but also propose measures for increasing profits and achieving growth. Simply possessing analytical skills is not enough to meet these requirements, and candidates must also be able to take strategic approaches and have advanced English proficiency.
CONTRACT
Temp-to-perm positions in finance/ accounting departments are increasing. One reason is more companies are now promoting employees to permanent positions after evaluating their suitability based on factors such as performance and compatibility with company culture. In addition, companies are always looking to increase their chances of retaining high-performing employees, and hiring on a temp-to-perm basis is an effective way of doing so.
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