Nearly 63 per cent of employers in Japan are concerned they don’t have the right talent to achieve current business objectives, according to recruiting experts Hays.
The 2017 Hays Asia Salary Guide, released earlier this month also revealed that 42 per cent of employers in Japan believe skills shortages have the potential to hamper effective business operations this year. A further 54 per cent expect shortages to have some impact on business operations.
The Hays Salary Guide highlights salary and recruiting trends drawn from more than 3,000 employers across Japan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore representing six million employees as well as the salary ranges for more than 1,200 roles.
“When the efficiency of a business is threatened, planning your business strategy and your talent pipeline has never been critical”, says Christine Wright, Managing Director of Hays Asia. ‘The focus for many businesses should be to build a highly talented and productive workforce. To do so, companies need to ensure they have access to the right candidates if they are to benefit from emerging conditions”.
Across all countries, findings from the below table highlights the roles that employers are struggling to recruit for.
Looking back over the last 12 months, 50 per cent of employers in Japan tried to combat skill shortages by upskilling their employees, while 37 per cent improved their attraction strategies. Only 13 per cent took no action.
In skill short areas, 58 per cent of employers in Japan would consider sponsoring or employing a qualified candidate from overseas. Across all countries, 59 per cent of employers would consider employing or sponsoring a qualified candidate from overseas in areas where there are skills shortages. This is a six per cent drop compared to last year’s results, which could be indicative of tightening labour laws in the countries surveyed.
Japan remains one of the least culturally diverse countries in Asia with the 2017 Hays Asia Salary Guide revealing foreign employees account for 9 per cent of the workforce. This was also the same figure reported last year. China’s workforce is the least ethnically diverse with only six per cent of its workers hailing from another country compared to 12 per cent of Hong Kong’s workforce. Foreign workers comprise 11 per cent of Malaysia’s workforce, whilst Singapore is the most diverse in Asia with 21 per cent of foreign workers in the country.
“Interestingly the 2017 Guide shows candidates are highly mobile with 65 per cent of respondents in Japan willing to move countries to secure the right job,” says Christine. “Our candidate survey also reveals 36 per cent of candidates in Japan are already job hunting with a further 32 per cent planning to change jobs in the next six months and 17 per cent in the next six to 12 months.”
Christine adds, “Similar to last year, candidates planning to switch jobs this year are motivated by seeking new challenges than chasing monetary rewards. Employers will need to have access to current candidate attraction and retention research to guide their candidate and employee strategies, to ensure they have the best people possible to help navigate what is expected to be, a fast changing year in 2017.”
Get your copy of the 2017 Hays Asia Salary Guide by visiting http://www.hays.co.jp/en/salary-guide or by contacting your local Hays office http://www.hays.co.jp/en/index.htm
Hays, the world’s leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.