Japan’s shrinking working-age population and acute labour shortage are affecting a diverse range of sectors and resulting in strong hiring activity for high-skilled occupations in the coming year. This is just one of the top 10 talent trends for 2019, according to recruiting experts Hays.
“We are anticipating an exciting year for recruitment in Japan, owing to the increasing need for data protection and a greater emphasis placed in compliance. As a result, candidates are presented with a wealth of opportunities, but not without new challenges,” says Marc Burrage, Managing Director at Hays Japan.
“For instance, the increase in regulatory oversight by the Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) alongside stringent global compliance requirements have driven both insurance firms and investment banks alike to expand their IT audit, security and risk control functions. Information security is also a major focus for many firms as they endeavour to maintain high standards of security.”
“For the same reasons, companies have been steadily growing their legal teams. With the introduction of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and in light of heightened financial risks, most firms are growing their corporate compliance teams,” adds Marc.
The Hays Japan Top 10 Talent Trends for 2019 also sheds light not only on the demonstrable impact that rapid digitalisation has on the employment market, but also the increasing importance employers are placing on diversity and inclusion to secure the top talents in tech.
“Organisations in Japan are progressively embracing diversity as their talent strategies to cast a wide and inclusive recruiting net, and quite notably so with employers in need of adept tech talent such as developers and UX/ UI specialists,” notes Marc. “This corresponds with a Hays survey finding that more employees in Japan now have a female boss. While in 2017, 21 per cent of respondents reported to a female boss, the number has increased to 28 per cent in 2018. This incremental progress is indeed heartening,” notes Marc.
“In the face of hiring challenges across a growing list of talent short areas, employers in Japan stand to gain in relentlessly fostering greater diversity and inclusion, and offering higher workplace flexibility to attract and retain adroit talent in this competitive employment landscape.”
Hays Top 10 talent trends for 2019 in Japan are:
1. Front Office Applications
In heated competition to have the fastest and most reliable front office and trading applications in the market, banks are intensifying their hires for front office application developers and support, particularly for talents with C++ or Java skills. Investment banks, in particular are taking in-house their offshore operations for application development. Skilled candidates in this area, who are short in supply, enjoy leverage in the face of stronger demand.
2. Legal
The rise in compliance and privacy protection will continue to drive hiring demand for law professionals. Companies are also looking to expand their Corporate Compliance function to ensure stronger data protection and adherence to privacy regulations (such as GDPR) as regulators in various industries become increasingly stringent. With more financial risks on the horizon, most firms are being proactive in their prevention measures.
3. Information Risk Management in Financial Services
As Japan comes up to speed with international cybersecurity standards, more and more companies tighten their Information Security to protect the confidentiality and integrity of classified information within their firms and to prevent potential data hacking or breaches that may compromise the business. Insurance firms and investment banks are ramping up efforts in hiring IT Auditors, IT Security Managers and IT Risk/Control Officers.
4. Life Sciences
Remarkable breakthroughs deriving from joint ventures and industry partnerships are stimulating the Life Sciences industry in Japan. Quite notably, small-scale ventures have been contributing to a myriad of new innovations in the market, driving the bigger players to merge with such start-ups. The Life Sciences industry will continue to thrive in the coming year, hence creating a wealth of opportunities for talents in this sector.
5. Insurance
As Insurtech flourishes amongst insurance firms to provide customer-friendly technologies, talents with operational insurance business experience remain critical to the technological endeavours of businesses. These highly coveted specialists are required to work with tech teams to develop applications that highly resonate with consumers.
6. Diversity within the Digital Technology World
Due to the dearth in UX/ UI specialists in Japan, companies are looking to be more inclusive when hiring their tech teams. In particular, employers are appreciating the wealth of expertise that female candidates can bring to the table. Female web and mobile developers will be especially high in demand for this reason.
7. Supply Chain & Procurement
The exponential growth of ecommerce in Japan is resulting in the proliferation of distribution centres (DCs) across the country, therefore requiring specialists to manage the different aspects of a DC. In addition, firms hiring for the Supply Chain and Procurement functions are in stiff competition to attract the best talents and we expect this trend to continue well into the coming year.
8. Human Resources
As companies build their in-house talent acquisition teams, they become increasingly receptive of fresh graduates at entry-level positions. Those with spectacular credentials such as having attended a top school or done their internship in a top-tier organisation are highly preferred. That said, talents in these junior positions can expect to receive competitive salary packages due to the candidate short situation.
9. Accounting and Finance
The world of finance is facing a shortage of finance planning and analysis talents, especially mid-level professionals who possess demonstrable commercial acumen and the ability to communicate fluently in English as well as Japanese. Due to the shortage of finance talent supply, companies are willing to consider candidates with pure accounting experience to train them once they are hired. Candidates with experience in the Big Four public accounting firms or those who have studied or worked abroad are particularly sought after.
10. Traditional Operator Roles
Businesses continue to see the commercial value in traditional operator roles within the customer service field because of its direct impact on sales revenue and customer retention. Talents in this field are not only required to be bilingual, but also commercially savvy. These roles are often regarded as a stepping stone for young, ambitious professionals. In order to attract and retain talents in Operator roles, clients have been offering competitive salary packages.
-ends-
About Hays
Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 30 June 2017 the Group employed 10,000 staff operating from 250 offices in 33 markets across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2017:
– the Group reported net fees of £954.6 million and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £211.5 million; – the Group placed around 70,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 240,000 people into temporary assignments;
– 24% of Group net fees were generated in Asia Pacific, 49% in Continental Europe & RoW (CERoW) and 27% in the United Kingdom & Ireland; – the temporary placement business represented 59% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 41% of net fees;
– Hays operates in the following markets: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Mainland China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA.