The growing shortage of skilled Accounting and Finance talent in Japan shows no sign of easing against a backdrop of falling unemployment and a strengthening economy.
Candidates with strong English language skills as well as the right qualifications and experience are in particularly high demand, but employers are still trying to control negotiations.
Despite a market that favours candidates, employers are not using higher salaries to secure talent and most are still not willing to hire from overseas to fill the gap.
“Demand for talent is high but so too are the expectations of employers around what they expect to see on a candidate’s resume,” says Marc Burrage, Managing Director of Hays in Japan.
“Many employers hiring qualified accountants are looking for the extras that set a candidate apart including English language skills, a CPA qualification, but also specialist experience whether that is J GAAP or experience implementing SAP,” he says.
“We all know the population is aging rapidly in Japan and that the market is likely to remain candidate short. For this reason and to contain costs, many companies want to broaden the scope of job roles and hire accordingly.”
“To date there has been a reluctance to offer higher salaries to secure a preferred candidate or a promotion to entice someone to stay in a job, but this may have to change in the future.”
“Candidates, particularly young professionals, are looking for more when changing roles with money at the top of their list although a better working environment including hours is also on their wish lists.”
Other observations offered by Marc about the Accountancy & Finance market in Japan include:
- “Senior candidates are expected to be able to use their thorough understanding of accounting rules and standards to have the confidence to think outside the box.”
- “Senior financial controllers are in demand for roles in the manufacturing and financial services.”
- “Finance managers are highly sought by manufacturing and financial services employers and also retailers and pharmaceutical firms.”
- “Employers are looking for Accountancy & Finance talent to take on a wider scope of responsibilities and are therefore expecting candidates to have more qualifications and experience as well as English language skills.”
- “Financial planning and analysis (FPA) talent remain in very strong demand across financial services, retail, manufacturing and healthcare, particularly pharmaceuticals.”
- “Most companies are still promoting on seniority, but some savvy employers are promoting on merit to keep high potential employees.”
- “As employers are not using salary to entice talent, younger Accountancy & Finance professionals are moving jobs to secure a salary increase or promotion. They favour joining start-ups, consulting firms and large foreign firms.”
- “Younger candidates are also looking for improved work life balance to spend more family time and achieve better physical and mental health.”
To find out more about the Accountancy & Finance industry, please read our Inside Story of the sector in Japan here.