EMPLOYERS IN JAPAN NOT CONFIDENT IN HIRING CYBER SECURITY TALENT
Budgetary constraints stymieing skills development plans and salary increments

Japan, 1st April 2024 – Hays, the global leader in workforce solutions and specialist recruitment recently released the Hays Global Cyber Security Report 2024 which was completed in late 2023 and features insights from over 1,000 cyber security leaders, from across 47 countries. The report explores how cyber security leaders are currently approaching recruitment and retention strategies for qualified cyber security staff, as well as the anticipated impact of AI, and their organisations investment plans.
 
Among respondents in Japan, only 23% of employers expressed confidence in attracting the right talent for their cyber security needs, compared to the global average of 39%. This comes amidst conservative increases to headcount in 2023, with only 26% of respondents in Japan reporting growth for cyber security talent in their workplace compared to 53% globally. In addition, 50% of respondents reported no changes to headcount last year.
 
Many of these concerns tie into a lack of budgeting for cyber security in organisations, an issue that has persisted since last year. 74% of cyber security professionals in Japan experienced stagnant wages in 2023, compared to 44% worldwide. Only 8.6% of employers offered workers a 10% increment, compared to 17% globally. Moving into 2024, these considerations are projected to remain largely the same, with 58.6% of respondents in Japan foreseeing minimal changes to budgets in 2024, higher than the global average of 39.4% for 2024.
 
Grant Torrens, Managing Director at Hays Japan, commented on the report, “Cyber security talent continues to be able to demand high remuneration due to the lack of competent workers with the necessary skill sets to fulfil this role, which in turn makes it difficult for companies looking to expand digital security teams. It will be crucial for companies to seek non-traditional talent with transferable skills, and to invest in upskilling them to fill this niche.”
 
With AI and automation tools growing in prominence, upskilling and training workers on these technologies has grown in priority. However, only 12.5% of workplaces in Japan plan to start training their workforce on AI tools within the next two years, compared to 38.5% worldwide. Up to 53% aren’t planning to do so, almost twice as many as the global response. These constraints in training investment tie back to strong concerns respondents had about cyber security budgets in 2024. Unlike their global counterparts, respondents in Japan ranked investment in upskilling as a top priority over infrastructure and increasing headcount. This is a familiar sentiment being echoed in our 2024 Hays Asia Salary Guide released earlier..
 
“With the advent of AI, attackers now have additional tools in their arsenal from which to target vulnerable frameworks,” said Grant. “Leaders must exercise careful discretion in allocating essential investments against key priorities, especially during bumpy economic periods, to ensure that talent development and retention in cybersecurity remain a top priority.”
 
 
About Hays Japan
Hays Specialist Recruitment Japan KK ("Hays Japan"), established in Tokyo in 2001, is one of the largest foreign recruitment companies in Japan with three offices across the country (Tokyo Head Office, Osaka and Yokohama).
 
At Hays Japan, our experts provide professional services across the private sector, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), Managed Service Programmes (MSP) and IT solutions in the following 13 specialisms: Accountancy & Finance, Banking & Financial Services, Engineering, Marketing & Digital, Human Resources, Insurance, Legal, Life Sciences, Office Professionals, Property, Sales & Marketing, Supply Chain and Technology. This ensures a highly focused, fully tailored specialist recruitment service, enabling us to power the future of work by serving thousands of companies and candidates in Japan. Hays Japan is recognised as a Great Place to Work® by the esteemed Great Place to Work® Institute Japan, the global authority on workplace culture. We continue to strengthen our position in Asia with the world-leading ISO 9001:2015 certification in all our operational markets including Japan, China, Hong Kong SAR, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.
 
About Hays
Hays plc (the "Group") is the world’s leading specialist in workforce solutions and recruitment, such as RPO and MSP. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK, Germany and Australia and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe, Latin America and Asia. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 31 December 2023, the Group employed over 12,300 staff operating from 249 offices in 33 countries. For the year ended 30 June 2023:
 
– the Group reported net fees of £1,294.6 million and operating profit of £197.0 million;
– the Group placed around 76,800 candidates into permanent jobs and around 245,000 people into temporary roles;
– 15% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 30% in Germany, 21% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 34% in Rest of World (RoW);
– the temporary placement business represented 57% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 43% of net fees;
– Technology is the Group’s largest division, with 26% of net fees, while Accountancy & Finance (15%) and Engineering (10%), are the next largest
– Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, the UK and the USA