Japan’s top talent trends for 2020: transformation to drive job market

Japan’s movements towards a cashless, paperless society, along with its implementation of 5G networks will shape the country’s job market for 2020, says recruiting experts Hays, as part of the country’s top 10 talent trends for 2020.

One of the biggest talent trends observed this year is its move towards a more digital future, marked by significant attempts to digitise processes and introduce new systems, particularly within the fintech and TMT space. Talent in this space will be in exceptionally high demand but may escape the ‘bilingual’ requirement that often holds hiring back, considering the focus is domestic for these industries.

A similar story is being charted for the e-commerce industry, where exponential growth has brought a renewed focus on expanding capabilities and automation. The increasing proliferation of Artificial intelligence (AI) globally is building to a future characterised by smart devices and insightful analysis, making candidates with AI, robotics, machine learning and automation experience a high priority for companies looking to utilise these technologies.

Other trends involve transformative changes in the country’s HR sector, brought on by the new "Work Style Reform Legislation”, that will result in significant hiring for senior HR roles. Japan is also expecting an uptick in its supply chain and manufacturing industries, despite ongoing tensions regarding global geopolitics.

“An increasing domestic focus and accelerating innovations in emerging technologies have set the stage for a fast-growing jobs market in 2020,” says Richard Eardley, Managing Director for Hays in Japan.

‘However, the ever-complex labour market in Japan has seen a significant number of challenges in recent times, such as a rapidly ageing population that has contributed to a chronic and crippling shortage of labour; or the only marginal raise in wages observed despite this. But on the bright side, Japan’s unemployment rate has remained at an all-time low, although it recently saw a spike which also harkens good news as more jobseekers enter the market.

“This is yet another sign for organisations to manage their expectations when hiring and work as much as possible to promote their brand image and stay competitive when it comes to remuneration. For candidates, those ready to embrace the impending digitisation of all industries and equip themselves with the change management skills needed to weather transformation will be best placed for the year ahead.”

Hays Top 10 Talent Trends for 2020 in Japan are:

MOBILE PAYMENTS BECOME MAINSTREAM
The introduction of mobile payment technologies will greatly the Japanese fintech market in 2020. The government’s ambitious target to make 40 per cent of all payments cashless by 2025 has pushed many organisations to develop systems locally to cope with demand. Web/mobile development has exploded in this respect while remaining very much domestic in nature. For this reason, bilingual engineers are not necessary for such roles and companies would rather seek developers who can speak fluent/native level Japanese. Companies are also looking to hire trainable junior engineers considering the industry is relatively new, as well as cyber security specialists as security is imperative when it comes to cashless payments.

IT TALENT DEMAND WILL BE DRIVEN BY TRANSFORMATION
Companies across multiple industries will be hiring IT candidates with skills or knowledge in AI, robotics, machine learning and automation. This is largely due to the transformation of the organisations themselves into utilising and optimising these new technologies. Along with the increased hiring of hands- technical engineers in these areas, we also expect to also see a continued demand for business analysts (ba), project managers (pm) and team managers who can pull projects together and manage the IT environment overall.

E-COMMERCE WILL DRIVE SUPPLY CHAIN MARKET
The exponential growth of ecommerce in Japan has resulted in the proliferation of super large distribution centres (DCs), as well as small to mid-size DCs across the country to meet growing customer demand. Candidates with experience in large scale DCs are in high demand for this reason, while experience across a variety of goods (such as fresh produce, for example), is also highly coveted. More innovation will be driven by technological innovation such as automation, material handling (both hardware and software), and even automated driving delivery. In addition, bilingual procurement professionals (both Direct & Indirect) are also expected to stay in high demand as cost control measures are likely to continue through the industry globally.

MANUFACTURING JOBS WILL SEE INCREASE DESPITE CHALLENGES
Despite global geopolitical uncertainties caused by the US-China trade war, the number of people working in manufacturing sector in Japan saw an increase in the last year. Traditionally, approximately 20% of Japan’s GDP has come from manufacturing sector, but this growth has been challenged recently by the rapid rise in technological innovations, transforming business practices and severe competition both locally and globally. For this reason, candidate with experience in new technologies such as FAE, ADAS, IoT, and Factory Automation, will be highly sought after and drive the hiring market. Similarly, those with policy and quality experience and knowledge including OpEx, EHS, and QC/QA for higher standard manufacturing will also see a rise in demand.

TMT JOB BOOM EXPECTED WITH LAUNCH OF 5G NETWORKS
The expansion of 5G Networks and Technology in Japan is going to create hiring needs as well as increased salaries within the TMT industry, particularly for engineers and managers with prior 3G/4G experience. This area also links into other technologies such as Cloud (Rakuten Mobile, for example are launching a fully Cloud service) and also Internet of Things (IoT). Which are expected to see an uptick in hiring. Japan’s plan to launch commercial 5G services in 2020 is currently underway, with a number of Japanese mobile carriers in the process of completing construction of their networks. This has led to demand and attractive remuneration for talent with 5G related knowledge, including researchers, and network, optical or telecommunications engineers.

R&D TO LEAD HIRING FOR LIFE SCIENCES
Japan remains an attractive market for foreign start-ups and small companies in the Life Sciences,
whose focus this year will likely be around R&D in oncology, rare diseases, gene therapy and RNA related therapies. Consequently, contract research organizations (CROs) will continue conducting voracious hiring and training in areas of high demand such as basic research and QA/QC. On the commercial side, there has been a growing need for project-based medical representatives, which will likely lead to contract sales organizations (CSOs) starting to further reinforce their capability for providing such candidates, as well as highly sought after medical science liaison professionals.

GROWTH EXPECTED IN EMBEDDED TECHNOLOGY SPACE
We have been seeing a trend for increased hiring in the Embedded Technology space that is expected to continue into 2020. Manufacturing companies, Industrial Software firms and businesses in the automotive industry are moving towards enhancing their hardware and software capabilities, leading to a surge in the hiring of embedded developers and testers. This is particularly the case in the automotive industry where new vehicles are offering more features and connectivity year-by-year.

HR SECTOR SEEKS HRBP AND IT SKILLS TO WEATHER TRANSFORMATION
The recent implementation of a new labour law that aims to transform Japan’s notorious culture of ‘overworking’ has resulted in a rise in hiring activity for strategic, senior HR professionals and the increasing use of Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS). Many organisations have been implementing new policies such as new types of leave or flex time and work from home systems. This has led to an increased demand for strategic HR Business Partners (HRBP) who can help drive institutional change from the top, and guide companies through this period of transition. Additionally, as companies go paperless and seek to better monitor their employees work habits to comply with new overtime caps, candidates with IT skills in HRIS will be increasingly preferred.

ACCOUNTING & FINANCE TALENT SHORTAGE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE
The world of finance in Japan is still facing a shortage of finance planning and analysis talents, particularly with mid-level professionals who possess demonstrable commercial acumen and the ability to communicate in English (low business to fluent) as well as Japanese (native level). This is expected to be an ongoing trend as typically, the needs for young Accounting & Finance professionals are always high amongst both user and service vendor sides. Even within global Japanese companies, the importance of having accounting related certifications (both foreign and domestic) has increased, while in regional companies, the demand for cost accounting and plant controller roles remains high.

HYBRID OFFICE PROFESSIONALS INCREASINGLY IN DEMAND
A rise in General Affairs or Administrative roles around office management is expected in 2020. This is largely due to a number of big global corporations relocating, bringing with it a demand for professionals who can assist in office relocation, reallocating and providing supplies, and coordinating related projects. In addition to general administrative roles, more hybrid roles are also beginning to appear in the market such as executive assistants who are expected to also support sales administration or office management. Smaller sized global organisations are especially looking to hire highly capable and flexible individuals with good English skills for such roles and are willing to pay well in return.

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About Hays

Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group. 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 2019 the Group employed 11,500 staff operating from 265 offices in 33 markets across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2019:

– the Group reported net fees of £1,129.7 billion and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £248.8 million;
– the Group placed around 81,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 254,000 people into temporary assignments;
– 18% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 27% in Germany, 23% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 32% in Rest of World (RoW);
– the temporary placement business represented 57% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 43% of net fees;
– Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA