2020 Hiring Trends │ Japan

Despite global economic and geopolitical uncertainty, the job openings-to-applicants ratio in Japan has remained relatively unchanged at around 1.6 and demand for labour continues to rise. Japan’s declining and ageing population continues to affect the labour shortage without showing any signs of a solution. Workplaces involved in supply chain, manufacturing, services, and clerical tasks are addressing this shortage through mechanising or automating tasks that typically involve simple but timely or physically demanding work. With the Tokyo Olympics and Rugby World Cup, Japan is achieving globalisation at an accelerated pace. As such, foreign-affiliated firms and leading Japanese companies with overseas business have shown increased demand for global talent with fluency in English and Japanese.

Other workplaces have also expressed similar demand. With an increasing number of tourists visiting Japan, tour companies, restaurants, hotels, entertainment facilities, and other areas in the service industry are hiring more bilingual and trilingual talent across the country. Online travel agents (OTAs), recognising historically high numbers of Japanese nationals travelling in the country and overseas, have shown a significant uptick in recruitment activity. This demand is expected to remain high for a considerable amount of time, owing to favourable prospects for Expo 2025 in Osaka, the development of integrated resorts, and other projects even after the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games can already be credited for seeing more people hired by the marketing departments of sponsor companies, as well as by advertising agencies and PR firms. The surge in spending ahead of the increased consumption tax rate was more modest than anticipated. However, predictions that the increase would affect consumer sales prompted accelerated demand for hiring talent with experience in digital work or supply chain operations.

An even more prominent trend can be found in the continuing upsurge for hiring talent within new IoT industries. Companies involved with cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), mobility (connected cars and autonomous driving), medtech, fintech, and other areas are showing strong demand in anticipation for 5G technology within IoT. Companies are making efforts to hire IT developers, communications and online, as well as talented security specialists, engineers, consultants, and sales staff. The online industry has seen a particularly strong trend in smartphone payment services, with many new offerings launching in quick succession. As a result, many talented individuals have flocked to this industry, including people with financial backgrounds, app developers, security experts, and other people willing to draw from a diverse range of experience and skills.

The momentum in adopting advanced technologies - such as 5G and similar trends - has impacted the entire manufacturing industry. This has resulted in job postings for sales positions requiring technical expertise, and increased demand for talent within semiconductors, chemicals, machinery, robotics, and supply chain operations.

Due to Japan’s ageing population, healthcare companies are searching for talent specialising in life sciences, central nervous system disorders and diagnosis and treatment in the field of oncology. There has been eager bidding for specialists with expertise in regulatory affairs, medical affairs, safety information, and similar fields. Following the growing awareness of health and the concept of the 100-year lifespan, manufacturers of chemicals and ingredients like supplements and organic products have also shown more job openings.

The increased necessity in collecting and utilising data has led to poor security measures and compliance issues with the Personal Information Protection Law. This has resulted in incidents with cryptocurrencies and smartphone payments, consequently triggering stricter financial regulation. To accommodate these regulations, demand for talent with security, audit, risk, and compliance expertise has increased. The internationalisation of the business environment has placed importance on global talents and English language skills within legal work involving patents, intellectual property and the Antimonopoly Act.

With so few bilingual professionals, the job climate in Japan is expected to favour Japanese nationals with a sense of international affairs and strong English ability, as well as foreign nationals with highly specialised and technical skills.

Overtime and annual paid leave have been affected by regulations introduced in 2019, with more legislation enacted in 2020 to achieve equal pay for equal work. We can expect non-regular workers to enjoy more stable employment conditions, with improvements made to their wages, as well as more opportunities for being hired as a full-time employee at their company of assignment. An advantage to this is the shortened recruitment process, securing specialised and experienced talent that have an immediate impact with new projects or entering into new markets. We expect this approach to receive more attention in the future, leading to an enhancement in the perceived image of dispatch workers in Japan, as well as an increase in the diversity of how talent is acquired and used within the country.