Over 90% of companies in Japan worried over talent shortage

On January 26, specialist professional recruitment firm Robert Walters Japan announced the launch of its digital "Salary Survey 2022," which summarizes hiring trends and salary levels for thousands of roles across 31 countries including Japan and survey findings based on responses from 170 companies and 855 company employees working in Japan.

Over 95% of businesses to give pay rises to mid-senior employees in 2022; mismatch on bonus expectations

Of the 170 companies surveyed, 67% of companies are planning to increase salaries up to 5 percent across all seniority levels. For mid-senior employees, 96% of companies plan to give salary increases of between 1 to 10 percent. On the employee side, a majority (62%) expect a salary increase of 1 to 5 percent, while 23% expect an increase of 6 to 10 percent. Compared to pay raise expectations for 2021, both companies and professionals are more optimistic for 2022 as global markets recover and the world continues to learn to live with Covid-19.

Regarding expectations for bonuses, 70% of companies answered that they are likely to give a bonus to employees in 2022 while over half of employees are expecting a bonus. Across all seniority levels, most employers plan to give a bonus of between 1 to 10 percent of the total base salary. On the other hand, only 28% of employees expect a bonus of 1 to 10 percent; the majority expected a bonus range of 21 percent or higher (39% of respondents). While expectations of companies and professionals were aligned for pay raises, there is mismatch regarding bonuses.

Talent shortage most acute among mid-senior roles

Among the companies that responded to the survey, 93% expressed concern about a talent shortage, with 48% saying they’re “very concerned.” Over 80% answered that the most acute shortage is among senior and managerial roles. When asked what was the most challenging in hiring talent, the top three answers were: “lack of industry experience” (65%), “lack of technical qualifications” (56%), and “lack of applications/supply of candidates” (51%). Despite the acute talent shortage, most companies in Japan (72%) have not considered a fully remote or location independent workforce as a possible solution.

In response to the survey results, Jeremy Sampson, Managing Director at Robert Walters Japan, commented: “Although we are still in the midst of a pandemic, global markets are more optimistic and this is apparent through the increase of hiring activities throughout 2021. Japan is already a severely talent-short market, but combined with the influx of new roles that were previously put on hold, we can expect the competition for talent in 2022 to intensify even further. A combination of streamlined recruitment processes, strong Employee Value Proposition (EVP) branding and a compelling vision are key to securing the right people for your business to grow.”

(Survey period: October to November 2021, Target: Domestic and foreign-affiliated companies in Japan n=170; Company employees registered with Robert Walters Japan and living in Japan n=855)

Press Release(PDF)

About Robert Walters Japan:

Established in London, United Kingdom, in 1985, Robert Walters is a specialist recruitment consultancy with operations in 31 countries around the world. Robert Walters Japan established its Tokyo office in 2000 and Osaka office in 2007.  For over 20 years, we've been a driving force in the Japanese bilingual recruitment market, providing high quality candidates for our clients and access to the best jobs. Our consultants are experts in their respective industries and work in teams to provide recruitment consultation services across a wide range of industries and job categories.