SALARY SURVEY 2018 JAPAN - Robert Walters
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SALARY SURVEY 2018
JAPAN
FOR OVER 32 YEARS, BUSINESSES
“ ACROSS THE GLOBE HAVE RELIED
ON US TO FIND THE VERY BEST
SPECIALIST PROFESSIONALS AND WE
ARE TRUSTED TO HELP BUILD THE
CAREERS OF THE WORLD’S LEADING
EXECUTIVES, JOB MOVE AFTER JOB
MOVE.
”
WELCOME TO ROBERT WALTERS
SPECIALIST PROFESSIONAL RECRUITMENT
MARKET LEADING GLOBAL BRAND
Our story begins in 1985 when the Group opened its first office in central London.
Since then we have developed into a global specialist professional recruitment
group, operating in a diverse range of markets worldwide.
For over 32 years, businesses across the globe have relied on us to find the very
best specialist professionals, talented executives have trusted us to help build their
careers, and companies have outsourced their recruitment processes to us. It’s a
success story we’re proud of and one that’s built on the strength and passion of
our people.
As the business continues to expand, we operate with the same commitment
to service and quality. Every candidate is treated as an individual with a focus on
advising and consulting. It means we continually have the best candidates on the
market to offer you.
At the heart of the Group’s culture and business is our team-based profit share
model which means that unlike the majority of our competition we do not pay
individual commission. This ensures the needs of our clients and candidates
always come first.
ROBERT WALTERS,
Although our reach is global we remain committed to hiring local talent so our
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER people have a deep understanding of the local market and culture. It’s what makes
us unique and helps us remain a trusted recruitment partner of the world’s leading
firms.
Robert Walters,
69%
OF OUR BUSINESS CEO,
IS FOCUSED ON
PERMANENT Robert Walters Plc
RECRUITMENT, 31%
ON CONTRACT
2
GLOBAL REACH,
LOCAL EXPERTISE
Countries we operate in
28
AUSTRALIA IRELAND SPAIN
BELGIUM JAPAN SWITZERLAND
BRAZIL KOREA TAIWAN
CANADA LUXEMBOURG THAILAND
CHINA MALAYSIA NETHERLANDS
WE RECRUIT FRANCE NEW ZEALAND UAE
GERMANY PHILIPPINES UK
ACROSS 28 HONG KONG PORTUGAL USA
COUNTRIES INDIA SINGAPORE VIETNAM
GLOBALLY INDONESIA SOUTH AFRICA
DOWNLOAD OUR SALARY SURVEY BOOKS To discover hiring and salary trends across the world, read our Global Trends on page 9 or download our books covering: • Australia & New Zealand • Greater China & South East Asia • Brazil • Korea • Canada • Middle East & Africa • Europe • USA salary data is available in our app You can find a more detailed report for Japan starting on page 11. Download your copy today by visiting Download our app from iTunes & Google Play www.robertwalters.com/salary-survey Search for Robert Walters Salary Checker
OUR SERVICE
Our business is built on the quality of our people. The majority WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT
of our recruiters have direct industry experience so they truly Bespoke, consultative service
understand the disciplines they are recruiting for and the
challenges facing hiring managers.
1. Commitment to quality
OUR CORE DISCIPLINES INCLUDE: We focus on building long-term, high-quality relationships
• Accounting & Finance with clients and candidates. We consult and advise, helping
• Banking & Financial Services our candidates make the right career move. This builds trust
and loyalty and ensures we continually have the industry’s
• Engineering top talent for our clients.
• Human Resources
• Information Technology 2. Specialists
• Legal We hire from industry to ensure our consultants are
• Marketing specialists in the disciplines they recruit for. They also
• Sales bring with them strong personal relationships and industry
networks, enabling them to find hard to reach talent with
• Supply Chain & Procurement
niche skill sets.
5
I’ve been impressed with Robert Walters has Robert Walters has
“ the service received by
Robert Walters. They
listened to our needs
and managed to balance
“ always been our preferred
recruitment consultancy.
Their regional presence
and in-depth industry
“ placed a number of
finance professionals with
us, developing a good
understanding of our
accommodating what knowledge enables us business needs, culture
we wanted with their to successfully hire high and talent profile.
obvious experience in the quality candidates across
recruitment process. multiple locations. Sue Mir, EMEA Business
Analysis Director,
Matt Earle, Regional Hagen Ong, APJ Head of Kimberly-Clark, UK
Director ASEAN, First 4
Farming, Australia
”
Talent Acquisition & Talent
Management, Schaeffler
(Singapore) Pte Ltd, ”
”
Singapore
3. No individual commission 5. Innovation
We operate a team-based profit share system which, We were the first recruiter to launch a recruitment process
we believe, sets us apart from the vast majority of our outsourcing business and we continue to lead the way with
competitors as it ensures the interests of both the client and industry first sponsorships and brand development such as our
candidate remain our number one priority. There is also no sponsorship of the British and Irish Lions.
ownership of candidates, ensuring clients always see the
best talent we have available.
6. Long-term outlook
Our strategy is one of organic growth through international
4. Our people and culture expansion and discipline diversification. We invest in markets for
We promote long term, international careers, helping us to retain the long-term and maintain our presence, even in tough times.
our top people, which provides continuity for our clients. We’re
proud to say our senior management team is home-grown with
7. Tailored solutions
an average tenure of 13 years.
We provide a bespoke, consultative service to our clients, from
the largest corporates, through to SMEs and start-ups. This can
include tailored premium advertising packages, enabling clients
to access difficult to reach talent.
6
WELCOME TO THE 19TH
“ EDITION OF THE SALARY
SURVEY, PROVIDING
CREDIBLE INSIGHT INTO
HIRING AND SALARY TRENDS
WORLDWIDE.
”
ABOUT THE Our Salary Survey is based on the
analysis of permanent, interim and
SALARY SURVEY contract placements made across each
of our geographies and recruitment
Welcome to the nineteenth edition disciplines during 2017, and our
of the Robert Walters annual Salary predictions for the year ahead.
Survey.
GET IN TOUCH
As the first recruitment company to If you would like to find out more about
produce a comprehensive overview of salaries and recruitment trends in
global salaries and recruitment trends your industry, call one of our specialist
across the world, we are pleased to consultants today. Contact details can
share the latest edition with you. be found on page 45.
GLOBAL TRENDS
spurred job growth as companies international business experience were
were freed up to hire different types of therefore highly sought after.
interim and contract roles, whilst the
permanent market also recovered. The job market in South East Asia
remained active, due largely to new
Belgian businesses entered a period of companies entering the market and
expansion and there was job growth the expansion of existing businesses,
across France. The Spanish economy despite variable economic conditions.
was buoyant and unemployment fell
in Portugal as opportunities arose in Vietnam and the Philippines faced
the IT, manufacturing and engineering ongoing talent shortages with many
sectors across both countries. The companies reaching out to overseas
Netherlands and Germany both saw nationals to attract them back home
strong hiring levels, especially in the with lucrative opportunities. Meanwhile
financial services sector. in Indonesia businesses competed
to hire high-potential, local bilingual
GILES DAUBENEY, DEPUTY In the UK, despite uncertainty candidates.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER surrounding Brexit and the General
Election, many sectors hired Japan also continued to face talent
INTRODUCTION extensively – although there was a shift shortages as the government
While economic conditions varied in towards contract roles as businesses announced a record high in the job
2017, most markets experienced at sought to build agile workforces able
least modest growth, which boosted to quickly adapt to changing economic
hiring and led to candidate shortages in conditions.
certain sectors.
The most significant change was in
Europe, as the continent’s economy
In the Middle East, the total number of
jobs declined but demand remained
for highly skilled professionals. Both
“ As candidate shortages
grow across the world we
advise companies to
be flexible and open to
and job market began to grow again Africa and the Middle East saw a hiring professionals with
following 10 years of stagnation. Strong focus on nationalisation programmes transferable skills.
”
business confidence and the onset as governments promoted hiring
of employment market deregulation local talent. Returning nationals with
9opening to applicants ratio, leading Tech start-ups were active recruiters in, For those facing candidate shortages
to strong competition for specialists for example, London, San Francisco our advice is to be flexible and consider
across many sectors. In particular, and Dublin, often competing against hiring professionals with transferable
professionals with artificial intelligence larger, more traditional companies by skills, even if they are not an exact fit
(AI) and Internet of Things skills and offering candidates equity stakes in the for the job description. It’s also vital
experience were highly sought after. business. for companies to streamline their
recruitment processes, making them
Despite some global economic Banks and financial services firms efficient and timely to avoid losing top
uncertainty, China continued its growth continued to bear the brunt of heavier talent to competitors. Employers should
momentum bolstering confidence and regulation. This resulted in strong also be aware that salary alone will not
hiring activity. demand for regulatory and compliance attract high-calibre candidates as they
skill sets along with risk, audit and are increasingly motivated by work-life
Digital, IT, fintech and e-commerce skill legal. In 2018 we expect to see balance, company culture, structured
sets will continue to be in demand due sustained demand for regulatory and career progression and flexible working.
to the national ‘Internet Plus’ strategy compliance professionals, along with
and companies’ digital transformation salary increases for these sought-after
projects. We also expect to see professionals.
12-18% pay rises for technology
professionals in China in 2018.
“
CYBER SECURITY
Australia and New Zealand’s job AND FINTECH
markets were generally healthy and WERE NOTICEABLE
this looks set to continue in 2018. GROWTH SECTORS
Of particular note were the booming AND DEMAND FOR
infrastructure and technology sectors, BIG DATA SPECIALISTS
leading to demand for project CONTINUED AT PACE.
managers and engineers as well as
cyber security and AI specialists.
Although both countries are relatively
close to full employment, we expect
salary growth to be marginal in New
Zealand and flat in Australia in 2018.
KEY TRENDS
As in previous years the trend towards
digitalisation meant that professionals
with digital expertise were in high
demand across the globe.
Cyber security and fintech were
noticeable growth sectors and demand
for big data specialists continued
at pace as companies sought to
implement new systems to benefit
from the insights afforded by big data.JAPAN
With offices in Tokyo and Osaka, Robert Walters Japan specialises in permanent and
contract recruitment solutions across all industries including financial services, real estate,
manufacturing, automotive, energy, chemical, information technology, online, retail,
healthcare and supply chain. We have been a driving force in the Japanese bilingual
recruitment market for over 17 years providing high quality candidates for our clients and
access to the best jobs.
“ Companies’ ability to
secure talented bilingual
professionals with specialised
skills and abundant
experience
is a key to growing
the Japanese economy.
”beginning to affect corporate futures and is a benefit in order to expand their business or
key to growing the Japanese economy. enter into a new market or category. With the
exception of certain technical positions in the
Traditional business areas have begun adding IT sector (especially in the aforementioned
new specialty skills to hiring conditions such ‘tech’ areas), it is rare to find candidates
as automotive firms and other manufacturers’ under the age of 35 who possess skill sets
employment of mechatronics engineers that match what companies are looking
who possess both electrical and mechanical for. Furthermore, companies are now more
engineering skills. Demand is also growing flexible and it is increasingly acceptable for
for professionals who can leverage issue professionals over 35 (and in some cases
discovery/solution capabilities and strategic professionals in their 50s and 60s) to change
decision making to contribute to organisational jobs as both employers and employees are
and business growth such as human resource more aware of the sellers’ market conditions.
business partners (HRBP) in HR, financial When companies hire these mid- and senior-
planning & analysis (FP&A) personnel in level professionals, they tend to require strong
finance, and data analysts in commercial and technical skills and significant experience,
financial services. While Tokyo’s effective job including, but not limited to, management
openings-to-applicants ratio is just over 2 skills and experience in engineering, finance,
DAVID SWAN, to 1, the especially strong demand for both or sales.
positions requiring these highly specialised
MANAGING DIRECTOR skills and positions in new fields is reflected by Despite growing labour shortages, pay
JAPAN AND KOREA a ratio of between 4 and 5 to 1. In contrast, increases remain sluggish for professionals
the ratio for general administration and who stay at the same company. This situation
2017 saw both companies and consumers accounting positions is less than 1 to 1. can be attributed in part to the lack of
(i.e., workers) encounter labour shortage and significant resistance or discomfort among
work-style issues amid the government’s Continuing a trend from the latter half of 2016, workers toward this degree of stagnation as
presentation of detailed measures on human many industries in 2017 saw a spread in the they have grown accustomed to an absence
resource development and work-style application of cutting-edge IT technologies of price increases resulting from over 20 years
reforms as priority measures. There were as evidenced by the broad use of the ‘tech’ of deflation. The cautious stance of companies
also widespread media reports on labour suffix to describe new fields such as fintech, toward raising personnel expenses and
shortages and death-by-overwork cases at meditech, HR tech, real estate tech, and seniority-type wage structures at traditional
multiple companies. agritech. Additionally, the acceleration of IT Japanese companies are also a factor.
security measures ahead of the 2020 Tokyo
The effective job openings-to-applicants Olympics is particularly notable. Given these Demand is steadily increasing for English-
ratio announced by the Ministry of Health, trends, Japan has recently been facing a Japanese bilingual professionals with
Labour and Welfare moved above 1.5 to 1, significant shortage of engineers who are specialised experience. Salaries offered to
the highest level in 43 years, and a majority capable of deploying AI and IoT technologies these skilled candidates when changing jobs
of companies operating in Japan confronted and sales specialists who can sell these are often 10-15% higher than at their previous
labour shortages. Despite this, global and technologies in Japan and abroad. Entirely positions because the supply of professionals
cross-border business accelerated even new jobs are also being created in the with the required skill sets is far less than the
further in Japan throughout 2017 alongside emerging ‘tech’ fields mentioned above. demand. In some cases, salary increases are
advances in globalisation and technology. As as high as 20-25% in certain areas such as
a result, many companies in a wide range of The frequency of job changes among the emerging ‘tech’ fields. Companies are
industries were in greater need of professionals professionals aged 35 and older is steadily also making more attempts to attract skilled
who are both familiar with global business increasing. In addition to hiring mid-career professionals by offering work-style initiatives
and proficient in a second language, putting professionals with the hope that they have the such as remote working, training/reskilling
the level of demand for bilingual specialists potential to bring future value to the company, programmes, and reformed assessment
at an all-time high. Companies’ ability to more companies are hiring highly experienced standards, and these types of initiatives should
secure talented bilingual professionals with and skilled mid- to senior-level specialists from see further expansion in 2018 and beyond.
specialised skills and abundant experience is whom these companies can immediately
12OVERVIEW
in part to the negative interest rates in We have also seen a slight increase in
Japan. Auditing companies are also now the rate at which financial controller roles
experiencing more expansion in Asia, so have been offshored to alternative regional
we predict a further increase in the trend for locations, and the majority of searches
such companies to approach multilingual for these positions are conducted on a
professionals who are proficient in languages replacement basis.
such as Chinese in addition to Japanese and
English. COMMERCE
Recruitment of finance/accounting specialists
Demand for junior-level candidates is
is increasing, particularly among healthcare,
extremely high, particularly for candidates
manufacturing, and IT/online-related
in their mid-30s or younger. Provided they
companies. Continued growth and expansion
have the necessary qualifications, even a
has led more companies to create additional
jobseeker in their mid-30s who has frequently
positions in these sectors and increased
70%
changed jobs can expect to have access to
recruitment is expected to continue in 2018.
multiple job opportunities. Professionals with
accounting qualifications can also significantly Job openings are expected to increase for
expand their career options by improving FP&A specialists and remain relatively steady
their English proficiency.
HOPES TO CHANGE JOBS for accounting/auditing/tax accounting
specialists. There has been a recent increase
WITHIN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS For finance/accounting/auditing specialists in
in hiring by companies requiring experience
the financial sector, 2017 has seen a notable
in specialised areas such as sales finance,
migration of these professionals from foreign-
marketing finance, and plant finance, but
affiliated companies to Japanese companies.
ACCOUNTING & FINANCE Increasing globalisation has enabled bilingual
as demand for financial professionals
greatly exceeds supply, companies are
professionals to fully utilise their global
FINANCIAL SERVICES perspective and English proficiency at
forced to continue to offer increasingly
competitive salaries. Given the shortage of
We expect the demand to increase for JCPA Japanese companies, and these companies
FP&A professionals, many companies are
and USCPA license-holding candidates, are now engaging in more business involving
also actively recruiting young and dynamic
especially those with in-depth technical cross-border M&A and foreign exchange.
auditors from major accounting firms to learn
knowledge. In addition, an increasing Many professionals have also been drawn
and grow into their FP&A positions.
number of financial professionals – FP&A away from foreign-affiliated banks due to their
specialists in particular – are being recruited stagnating business performance in Japan, We are witnessing many cases of companies
in the insurance and real estate finance and some have been returning to Japanese operating in a fast-paced environment to
sectors. The robust business performance companies that often place a greater recruit FP&A professionals from the financial
among insurance, real estate, and asset emphasis on work-life balance. services industry. These companies are
management companies can be attributed appealing to potential candidates by offering
13not only attractive salaries and promotion enjoyed by asset management companies,
programmes, but also improved employment there was a notable trend in which
conditions to enhance the work-life balance professionals were actively looking to change
of employees such as flex-time and the jobs from the former to the latter. Many asset
option to work from home. While we have management companies took advantage of
also seen some foreign-affiliated companies this trend and successfully hired young and
moving to offshore general accounting talented professionals away from banks and
functions, there has been an increase in securities firms.
the number of Japanese companies hiring
bilingual professionals, especially in the As was the case in 2016, the majority
areas of FP&A, accounting, M&A, and of recruitment in 2017 for middle office/
corporate planning. In many instances, operations roles in foreign-affiliated banks
these companies are hiring non-Japanese and securities firms was of junior-level
professionals who are proficient in business- professionals. In general, 2017 was a busy
level Japanese. year for recruitment activities with most
vacancies being open on a replacement
Although the salary levels of FP&A specialists basis.
can increase by as much as 10% when
switching jobs (20% in the case of particularly In the real estate finance sector, we predict
talented candidates), overall salary levels are that the high level of demand for bilingual
seeing only slight to moderate increases. professionals will continue in 2018. Given labour shortages and they now have higher
Young and talented FP&A specialists are the soaring asset prices in the real estate expectations in terms of wages. More
benefitting from the significant demand for market, most fund businesses did not companies are beginning to understand
their skill set and they are often receiving job increase acquisition department headcount
this and they are raising hourly wages
offers from multiple companies. in 2017. We have, however, seen consistent
accordingly; the hourly wages of KYC
demand for asset managers. The number
The same trends are seen in Kansai. of middle office job openings in real estate analysis, for example, are 15-20% higher than
businesses has remained very similar to 2016 last year. Companies are also offering more
CONTRACT levels, especially in regard to roles related to direct contract opportunities to candidates
fund planning and loan administration. The instead of hiring them on a temporary basis
Temp-to-perm positions in finance/
accounting departments are increasing. effect of real estate companies’ decision as a way to gain an advantage over rival
One reason for this is that more companies to suspend the hiring of new graduates companies.
are now considering promoting employees following the global financial crisis is still being
felt, and we expect businesses to continue to The recruitment process in the financial
to permanent positions after evaluating
face challenges identifying suitable younger services industry is becoming increasingly
their suitability over a certain period based
on factors such as performance and bilingual professionals in 2018. complex and rigorous, and many companies
compatibility with company culture. In are now spending a greater amount of time
Consulting firms are continuing to advertise on recruiting and other types of thorough
addition, companies are always looking to
many openings as they did in 2016, and screening. As a result, we have seen an
increase their chances of retaining high-
many of these firms are increasing the increasing number of cases in which the
performing employees, and hiring on a temp-
number of personnel responsible for schedule of the recruitment process is
to-perm basis is an effective way of doing so.
engaging in business with financial institutions delayed.
and insurance companies. A notable area of
increased interest in 2017 was the demand
FINANCIAL SERVICES among consulting firms for professionals
Operations and risk and compliance
departments are suffering from a serious
2017 saw robust performance in the asset with experience or skills related to the fintech shortage of candidates for temporary/
management sector including investment sector. contract positions. This is in part due
trust funds and investment advisory firms, to companies’ tendencies to seek out
and we observed strong demand among CONTRACT professionals in their 30s or younger even
asset management companies for sales Professionals seeking contract employment though the majority of the temporary/contract
people, particularly for senior roles. Given are becoming increasingly aware of the labour force is in their 50s. More companies
the recent challenges for securities firms and sellers’ market conditions caused by current are now aware of the current personnel
investment banks and the positive results
14shortages and recruitment of non-Japanese The environment is particularly competitive for CONTRACT
professionals with Japanese language companies that are looking to hire bilingual The majority of openings for secretarial and
proficiency is increasing. HR specialists in their 30s who possess office management contract positions are
excellent communication skills and seven to due to the need to cover for employees
Companies in the financial services industry ten years of HR-related experience, a trend
with open administrative positions are now taking maternity/childcare leave. Temporary
we expect to continue into 2018 and beyond. employment has usually been the primary
asking for not only experience in similar By focusing on this age group, the aim of
roles, but also wider skill sets, which include, type of contract employment for these
companies is to recruit professionals with positions, but we have observed a dramatic
among others, interpretation and translation, substantial potential and increase the number
research, and client services. shift towards temp-to-perm and direct
of personnel in an age group that is severely contract employment types. Previously,
underrepresented due to the temporary translation and interpretation positions
suspension of hiring by many companies in were commonly filled on a temporary
HR & GENERAL ADMIN Japan during the global financial crisis. As basis. However, given the current sellers’
the pool of young candidates with extensive market conditions for bilingual talent, many
We have observed strong and consistent experience in their respective industries candidates for these positions have been
demand for HR business partners (HRBPs) is currently limited, companies have been successfully securing regular permanent
and talent acquisition professionals. More softening their initial hiring preferences, in positions from employers.
companies have been enhancing the many cases hiring either individuals without
strategic capabilities of their HR departments, direct experience, or older, more experienced
so we are seeing an increase in the number professionals who can make immediate INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
of HRBP functions with a focus on the contributions.
hiring of change agents and individuals
In comparison to our clients’ other functions,
IT VENDOR & CONSULTING
who can add value from an HR perspective The increasing shortage of bilingual IT
before and after M&A. We are also seeing we have observed a quicker streamlining and
shortening of the hiring process for HR. Hiring professionals with relevant expertise has led
continued demand for talent acquisition to the most talented candidates receiving
specialists with strong knowledge of the managers are acting with a keen awareness
of the competitive environment in which they job offers from multiple companies. This
organisational structure and industry in which is especially true in the cloud computing
they specialise, as well as individuals with operate and the critical importance of quick,
quality hiring for HR, and their actions have a sector where competition for specialists in
agency experience. Large conglomerates this area is intensifying. The entry of several
that are created as a product of M&A have ripple effect on the competence of hiring and
retention in all other aspects of the business. foreign-affiliated cloud computing start-
generally required HR professionals with skill ups into the Japanese market is certainly a
sets that include talent management and contributing factor, but it is also important
The same trends are seen in Kansai.
organisational development. to note that SaaS and IaaS services only
recently began seeing frequent use. As there
was already a shortage of professionals with
extensive experience with these services,
such professionals who are also proficient in
TOP 3 DECISION FACTORS WHEN CHANGING JOBS English are even more scarce.
With the Tokyo Olympics less than
three years away, IoT development and
commercialisation efforts are rapidly
becoming more widespread and the demand
for data analysts and scientists continues
to increase. For many years an increase
in demand for AI and IoT specialists was
#1 #2 #3
predicted, but only now are we beginning to
The work itself Salary Interpersonal
see real demand from industries that utilise
relationships
these technologies. However, despite the
15large number of researchers and developers Such professionals often place greater including gaming, SNS, e-commerce, and
in the AI sector, there is still a shortage emphasis on considerations such as stock mobile apps.
of engineers working to commercialise options and more flexible work styles, but the
this technology and demand for these best talent still gravitates towards the highest While getting a higher salary is still the main
professionals far outweighs supply. compensation. factor that determines acceptance of an
offer, we have also found that an increasing
This imbalance between supply and IT COMMERCE number of candidates in the online sector
demand has led to a notable increase in 2017 saw a notable increase in the demand are beginning to consider and place more
the salaries that companies are offering to for data scientists, data analysts, and importance on other factors such as office
candidates. For sales engineers, technical business intelligence professionals as these culture, state-of-the-art technology, stock
consultants, and project managers, salary areas play an essential role in company options, and other benefits.
levels typically increase by an average of growth and competitiveness. As a result,
10-15% when changing jobs. In addition there was a high degree of active recruitment
IT CONTRACT
to offering competitive salaries to acquire in the areas of general manufacturing, Contract recruitment activities increased in
talented professionals, companies can also consumer goods, retail, medical devices, 2017 for web technologists and open source
gain an advantage over competitors by and pharmaceuticals. Connecting real and programmers. This can be attributed in part
providing flexible work-style initiatives such e-commerce customer data flow seems to to the expansion of the e-commerce market
as the option to work from home, while also be the challenge companies are currently and the emergence of the gaming domain.
reducing the amount of time required to facing. As companies in these industries focused
complete the recruiting process. on expanding their business portfolio,
There was also growth in the number of hires recruiting acted as a key component in many
IT FINANCE in artificial intelligence (AI), natural language firms’ 2017 mission. By utilising contract
2017 has seen a number of insurance processing (NLP), and machine learning employment to avoid overhiring, many
companies introduce new CRM systems (ML) and strong demand in these areas is companies increased contract recruitment
while many are also moving towards expected to continue into 2018 and beyond. activities by placing greater importance on
cloud platforms. As a result, demand and candidates’ technological expertise. This led
The industry-wide shortage of Japanese- to a much more flexible approach, and many
accordingly compensation for IT specialists English bilingual candidates specialised
with experience in these areas is increasing, companies set aside traditional requirements
in mission-critical systems, business such as native-level Japanese proficiency to
particularly for project managers, business applications, and state-of-the-art technology
analysts, and technical architects. Demand hire skilled foreign professionals.
is a trend that has been ongoing for several
for data scientists and data analysts has years. This has led an increasing number of DevOps was also heavily emphasised in
also been high and these professionals have companies to look overseas for talent, often 2017. As these specialists are essential
seen some of the most competitive salary resulting in technical skills being prioritised for product development, operations,
increases. over language ability. and stabilising heavy traffic, we expect
While many global securities firms the increase in demand to continue for
aggressively downsized from mid-2016
IT ONLINE candidates with expertise in both server-side
to mid-2017, there has been a return of Recruitment figures in 2017 for mobile apps, development and infrastructure operations.
headcount to Tokyo. This is especially games, and web/e-commerce development As demand intensifies in 2018, we anticipate
true for development roles and business- in the online sector exceeded those of the a continued increase in the shortage of
aligned support roles even though hiring previous year. Given the importance being bilingual technology professionals, especially
has remained fairly steady for the latter. placed on technical skills, an increasing those with experience in AI, DevOps,
Compensation increases for changing jobs number of professionals in the online sector or second-tier/emerging programming
are healthy to attract and retain top talent are now changing jobs every two to three languages.
and minimise the risk of counteroffers in an years with the aim of further developing their
skills. 2017 saw a notable increase in demand
increasingly candidate-short environment. in all areas of infrastructure services,
The entry of several fintech firms into the Data science, business intelligence, and data- including, but not limited to, helpdesk, server
Japan market has led to increased demand related opportunities continued to increase support, database administration, security
for web and mobile developers in that space. across all areas of the online business analysis, project coordination, and project
16locations. Companies that are actively
hiring in the credit risk sector are seeking
candidates that specialise in both liquidity
and operational risk.
In the field of market risk, recruitment by both
Japanese and foreign-affiliated companies is
stable, and banks are increasing the number
of positions in highly specialised fields such
as model validation.
Both Japanese and foreign-affiliated
companies were also interested in hiring
Japanese and non-Japanese multilingual
junior-level candidates to develop their talent
pipelines, a trend we expect to continue into
96%
2018.
MANUFACTURING
WANT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE
OF FLEXIBLE WORK STYLES AUTOMOTIVE
The demand for specialised engineers will
increase as the development of autonomous
vehicle technologies is being pursued in
incremental stages with targets set for
2020 and 2035. We expect demand to
management. The contract market was lawyers continued to cause stiff competition be particularly high for software engineers
very competitive as a result, and we expect in the market, and we anticipate similar hiring working with radar, ultrasonic, and camera
this trend to continue in 2018, primarily patterns moving into 2018. systems that are used for features such as
in banking, insurance, IT consulting, and collision detection and automated braking.
telecommunication areas. Salary levels for Compliance continued to be an active
Demand for electrical engineers is increasing
most positions are also expected to rise in sector with increased demand among
while demand for mechanical engineers
2018 with an emphasis on cloud computing, teams specialising in anti-money laundering
remained consistent with 2016 numbers, and
end-user support, and telecom engineers. (AML) and financial crime and surveillance,
companies continue to make strong bids to
This is mainly due to companies’ desire to and we are seeing more growth compared
attract such professionals.
further stabilise network infrastructure by to 2016 as larger financial institutions are
utilising cloud computing and strengthening making greater efforts to build and develop Companies are also bidding strongly for
information security and administration. their defences. We expect these trends to professionals who can handle system-
continue in 2018 with a continued emphasis related work such as programming; this is
on AML and financial crime compliance especially true for junior-level professionals
LEGAL, COMPLIANCE & RISK for which stricter regulations will soon be and mid-career professionals in their early
implemented. Given these new regulations, 30s to mid-40s. More companies are
We saw steady hiring for in-house legal
we anticipate greater demand from the buy adopting a welcoming stance towards young
roles in 2017 with minimal growth and an
side and start-up fintech companies. professionals with experience in fields such
abundance of replacement hires, particularly
in the financial services sector. A notable as robotics and algorithm development who
In the credit risk sector, most foreign
exception was in the technology and are looking to move into the automotive
businesses focused on recruiting candidates
pharmaceutical industries where we saw sector. Moves to recruit highly skilled
on a replacement-only basis, and firms
growth in the demand for junior to mid-level foreign professionals from India, China, and
reduced credit risk personnel in Japan
hires. An acute shortage of qualified bilingual Germany, among other countries, are also
by offshoring certain roles to lower-cost
becoming increasingly common, particularly
17for software engineers. to personnel shortages, it is not uncommon promoting them to regular permanent
for skilled technical professionals who are employee status.
With the positive market conditions resulting proficient in English to receive multiple job
in an expansion of and increase in foreign- offers and experience a resulting 10-20% CHEMICAL
affiliated companies in Japan, the demand increase in salary. More companies are now Due to the rise in global demand for electric
for sales and commercial professionals is also proactive in recruiting foreign technical vehicles, the chemical industry has seen a
steadily growing. professionals with business-level Japanese continued increase in the R&D of electronic
proficiency. materials. As Japan is a global leader in
Overall, salaries are trending higher than
in 2016, with the salary levels of technical the automotive industry and a centre of
There are signs indicating companies are excellence for science and technology
professionals increasing by an average of making proactive moves towards furthering
10% and a maximum of about 20% when education and research, a lot of global
the participation of women in the workplace. attention is paid to the activities of Japanese
changing jobs. Sales professionals see an Small to medium-sized companies are
average increase of 10% and as much as OEMs and the materials being used for their
attempting to hire more female manufacturing electronics and batteries. This is inevitably
15% for particularly talented candidates. professionals, while an increasing number
For engineers with extensive experience leading to increasing sales for both Japanese
of large foreign-affiliated manufacturers are and foreign-affiliated companies in these
in the automotive sector, especially those getting headcount specifically for female
with experience related to advanced driver- areas, and we have seen a rise in the hiring
employees with the aim of increasing the of sales and marketing professionals to
assistance systems, telematics, and electric proportion of female directors on their
& hybrid vehicle technologies, salary levels meet this demand. For the major automotive
management teams. Despite these efforts, and electronics companies, increasing
are expected to increase. however, it remains difficult for companies globalisation along with the economic growth
to find qualified women in the manufacturing
GENERAL MANUFACTURING sector to fill these positions and there is still
in Asia are contributing to the recruitment of
sales professionals responsible for the ‘spec-
With overall confidence in the market, foreign an acute talent shortage of both men and in’ business here in Japan.
manufacturing-related companies have women in this sector.
continued to grow and invest further in Japan, As the IoT (Internet of Things) gains
and we have seen a very buoyant recruitment The same trends can be observed in Kansai popularity, so does the demand for electronic
market in the general manufacturing sector in sectors such as factory automation, 3D parts and chips for semiconductors and
as a result. This has been led by a strong printing, and electronic parts manufacturing. recruitment activities in these sectors are
demand in factory automation and robotics, vigorous. In addition, companies focusing
electronic equipment and components, To bolster the English capabilities of their
overseas business personnel, Japanese on engineering plastics are also enjoying
mechatronics, and industrial tools and increased growth and demand thanks to the
equipment. companies in Kansai tend to hire young
bilingual professionals as temporary or increased use of their products in lightweight
contract employees, with a view to eventually components for automobiles and aircraft.
In response to the growing domestic demand
for factory automation, we have seen many
companies bringing in next-generation
industrial technologies such as Industrial
IoT (IIoT) and industrial network systems. As
TOP 3 REASONS FOR UTILISING
a result, both well-established businesses WORK-STYLE RELATED POLICIES
and new market entrants are aggressively
recruiting electrical, mechanical, and software
engineers as well as commercial personnel
with English proficiency.
To overcome competition and attract and
secure strong candidates, an increasing
#1 #2 #3
number of companies are taking a flexible
Work-life Easing of Study
and creative approach regarding salary
balance commuting burden
levels, job grades, and work locations. Due
18For the cosmetics and nutraceuticals ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE provide them with comprehensive training
industries, much of their increasing growth The energy industry saw significant change in and support. Renewable power plants are
can be attributed to Japan’s ageing 2017 largely due to ongoing reforms and the generally located in remote areas of Japan
population. We have observed steady growth Japanese government’s liberalisation of the which makes it very difficult for companies
in the demand for pharmaceutical ingredients electricity market. to attract and secure talent on-site. As a
and nutraceuticals as well as sustained result, it is quite common for companies to
growth in the sale of cosmetic ingredients We continued to experience very high hire experienced senior professionals in their
from chemical companies to cosmetics demand for developers in both the solar and 50s and 60s as site managers or engineers
makers. As a result, there is a constantly wind industries, and we saw solar companies and have them manage operations and
increasing demand for sales professionals in and projects shifting more from the sales, maintenance work at multiple locations.
these areas. acquisition, and early development stages to
the construction/operations and maintenance In the traditional energy sector, we
The hiring of non-Japanese employees phase. Given this shift, facility maintenance also saw steady hiring for sales and
with strong technical qualifications and/or and repair became crucial and hiring of sales engineering professionals due to the
experience has also continued to rise, and and commercial professionals softened. ongoing maintenance and refurbishment of
we have seen many new entrants into the Demand drastically increased for technical thermal power plants. Given the growing
chemical market as small to mid-sized foreign professionals, especially those with licenses importance of increased efficiency, the
companies look to capitalise on the growth of and certifications in civil and electrical reduced environmental impact of thermal
the Japanese market. engineering. power plants, and the continued uncertainty
surrounding nuclear power in Japan, hiring
Competition for talented candidates has Due to the chronic talent shortage in the in the plant equipment and components
led an increasing number of Japanese energy industry, companies, especially suppliers remained strong. However,
companies to break away from more those in the renewable energy sector, are renewable energy companies have also been
traditional seniority-based pay systems and becoming more flexible with their recruitment aggressive in their efforts to attract talent
offer more competitive salaries. Salary levels of senior professionals and professionals from these sectors.
for talented sales professionals can increase from outside the energy industry. Compared
by as much as 30% when changing jobs, to previous years, as some companies have In 2018, we expect a continued increase
and technical service professionals can also matured and developed their knowledge in the trend of SMEs in the energy industry
see increases of approximately 20%. and expertise, they are now more willing to entering Japan. We also anticipate continued
hire professionals from other industries and growth in energy retailers, energy storage,
and environmentally related businesses.
CONTRACT
As an increasing number of companies in
Kansai move to reduce overtime work and
encourage employees to use up paid leave
as part of moves to address work-style
issues, recruitment of temporary and contract
staff has increased to boost workforce sizes.
SALES & MARKETING
MEDICAL
Recruitment is expected to continue to
increase in 2018 and beyond due to the
ageing population, innovations in medical
technology, and continued development of
the IoT. In addition, new companies entering
the market and major companies carryingout M&A deals are further driving increases in
recruitment numbers.
As the baby boomer population ages,
healthcare is slowly migrating out of hospitals
and clinics and into homes. This has Almost 40% of workers
who received a salary increase
contributed to an increase in recruitment
as companies with home healthcare
products that do not cater exclusively to
39% of 30% or more when changing jobs
will not change jobs again within a year.
physicians and hospitals can focus more on
consumer-facing products. The growth of the
healthcare IT industry is also a contributing
factor as the introduction of new tools and
technologies allows companies to promote
products directly to patients. An increase
few years ago as a cost-saving measure. As representatives, demand is increasing for
in clinical studies is also driving demand for
demand for these professionals continues digital marketing and channel marketing
medical device-related clinical development
to increase, CROs are attempting to capture professionals to analyse website access data
specialists, and more companies are
this demand through rapid organisational to look at how patients and staff are obtaining
establishing or adding strategic teams to act
expansion. As with the medical affairs field, product information.
as the brains of their operations.
since the number of candidates is limited,
CROs are bidding strongly for candidates There are an increasing number of biotech
Companies appear to be taking a more
and talented candidates tend to receive job start-ups in the Kansai area establishing
proactive stance towards competition with
offers from multiple companies. bases in both local biotech incubator facilities
rival companies by agreeing to meet and
and around Osaka University and Kyoto
interview talented candidates even when they
Recently established pharmaceutical start- University. The high level of demand means
are not looking to fill any specific vacancies.
ups in Japan have been implementing that even newly established enterprises
Salaries in this industry increase by roughly
personnel changes in their commercial renting laboratory space from these
10-15% when candidates change jobs.
functions to pursue more internationally- universities are actively recruiting.
PHARMACEUTICAL minded professionals who are able to press
CONSUMER GOODS
forward with global initiatives. These moves
Demand for medical affairs (medical science
are motivated by the shared aim of achieving Demand for consumer goods in the
liaison) specialists is particularly strong in
greater organisational vitality in line with the Japanese market is stable and increasing
most pharmaceutical companies. Foreign-
standards of global headquarters. market share is the top priority. Hence there
affiliated companies in Japan began
is brisk demand for sales and marketing
establishing medical affairs functions over Given the overwhelming candidate shortage, professionals in this area. More companies
the last decade and Japanese companies companies that do not offer competitive are now requiring higher levels of English
have followed suit over the last few years, but salaries tend to have trouble securing talented proficiency from sales professionals when
the number of medical affairs specialists in personnel. Salaries in this sector increase by recruiting with an eye towards future career
the Japanese market remains limited. Many as much as 15% when professionals change development. We have also seen a few
companies have also struggled to define jobs. cases of sales and general management
exactly what kind of work medical affairs
In Osaka, demand for clinical researchers professionals being recruited by companies
entails, so there tend to be slight variations
continues to increase in the pharmaceuticals that are establishing small-scale sales bases
in the work these specialists engage in
sector. With new regulations on visits to in Japan to introduce new foreign brands.
depending on the company.
physicians by medical representatives, These companies are focusing on recruiting
Recruitment demand is growing for the number of medical representatives in sales professionals with extensive experience
clinical research associates (CRAs) at pharmaceutical companies is decreasing and sales networks in Japan to manage
contract research organisations (CROs). while demand for medical science liaison partnerships with distributors and expand
Pharmaceutical companies began professionals has remained high over the domestic sales.
outsourcing clinical development work a past several years. In place of medical
20Foreign-affiliated consumer goods Foreign PR agencies in Japan are expanding become increasingly pronounced in 2018,
manufacturers tend to favour mid- to senior- their headcount in reaction to increased and competition for the recruitment of
level candidates who have experience spending by clients in all sectors and new talented candidates is expected to intensify.
working in several companies over those market entrants from overseas. Consumer The lack of candidates for positions in retail
who have worked in a single company for companies in all sectors are also moving stores is exacerbating this trend and making
a long time. This trend of recognising the from conventional media to increased personnel acquisition more difficult. Earlier in
high adaptability of candidates who have omnichannel engagement. Thus, there is a 2017, an overall decrease in the number of
experience acclimating themselves to high demand for bilingual account executives inbound shoppers and the amount of money
different company cultures and business and managers to cover clients in these areas. they spent when visiting Japan caused the
approaches is perhaps indicative of the performance of luxury brands to stagnate
changing nature of the Japanese labour Salary levels for job movers in this industry or deteriorate. However, now that demand
market. increase by roughly 10-15%. In situations is recovering, we are beginning to see
where candidates receive multiple job signs indicating they are ready to resume
One notable trend we have observed is an offers, it is becoming more common for recruitment activities.
increase in candidates who are interested in the companies that come out on top to be
Japanese companies that are looking to grow the ones successfully selling candidates on In addition to bilingual candidates who are
overseas marketing activities. In the lead up their efforts to enhance work-life balance proficient in both Japanese and English,
to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, we also expect (e.g., flex-time) and opportunities for career retail companies highly value trilingual
demand to increase for marketing specialists progression within the organisation on top of candidates who can also speak Chinese.
who can boost consumer engagement the traditional offer of a competitive salary. English proficiency is also becoming
through various means such as sponsorships increasingly necessary for retail staff to
and events. Kansai-based Japanese consumer goods
be promoted to store manager and retail
manufacturers are recruiting more bilingual
manager positions. Therefore, companies
The steady expansion of many new quick professionals for overseas sales and
tend to favour candidates who are either
service restaurants in Japan is creating a marketing positions due to overseas business
proficient in English or have a strong desire
labour shortage, particularly for bilingual expansion.
to improve their English for the sake of their
candidates. Major convenience stores and
Japanese food and beverage companies are RETAIL career development. When recruiting retail
managers, candidates are required to have
also diversifying their offerings and marketing An increase in tourism, the opening of new
experience not only as store managers, but
activities resulting in greater competition for shopping facilities in Ginza, and the opening
also experience managing several stores.
the same talent. For senior marketing and of new street-level stores in Omotesando
sales professionals, consumer companies are are intensifying recruitment of retail staff and For marketing and merchandising personnel,
open to talent from related consumer goods store managers as well as retail managers the majority of recruitment is for filling existing
and services industries. and directors who are responsible for headcount as very few companies are
multiple stores. We anticipate this trend to creating new marketing or merchandising
positions or increasing the number of HQ
staff they employ. However, more companies
TOP 3 ASPECTS OF THEIR CURRENT JOBS are investing heavily in improving their
digital offerings leading to the growth of
THAT RESPONDENTS WOULD LIKE TO SEE IMPROVED e-commerce sales as a proportion of total
sales.
Salary levels in the retail industry are trending
at the same level as last year with increases
of roughly 10% for job movers. There is,
however, a noticeable trend towards job
#1 #2 #3 offers with salary increases of greater than
Salary Assessment Company 10% being made by companies to gain a
systems culture competitive edge over their rivals.
21HOSPITALITY
The opening of new hotels and shared offices
has led companies in the hospitality industry
to make strong bids for talented candidates,
and competition for these candidates is
increasing accordingly.
In the hotel industry, demand for bilingual
professionals is increasing more rapidly
than ever as new foreign-affiliated hotels
open both in Tokyo as well as regional cities
such as Osaka, Kanazawa, and Niseko.
A nationwide increase in the number of
overseas tourists is also a factor, and with the
Rugby World Cup and Tokyo Olympics only
two and three years away, respectively, the
recruitment activities of sporting event-related
companies are also intensifying.
Job openings in the shared office industry
are also increasing as shared offices are
no longer only being used by start-ups
and nomad workers. More companies are
beginning to use these spaces as substitute resources, to planning and general affairs. In the direct and wholesale brick and mortar
project rooms and satellite offices which addition to the Olympics, much-discussed channels which have seen a decline in sales
is leading to an active expansion of the topics currently include new integrated resort in most regions. However, the active supply
business. However, the young and energetic complexes and the Osaka Expo. From 2018 of talent remains extremely limited and
bilingual corporate sales specialists the onwards, there is likely to be increased demand greatly exceeds supply in this area.
industry needs are in very high demand and it demand for bilingual professionals in Kansai
can be difficult for companies in this industry to fill hotel reception, retail store, and office In the retail industry, the practise of digital
to acquire such professionals. positions. marketing based on omnichannel methods
that provide a seamless online/offline
In Kansai, the increasing number of
ONLINE & DIGITAL shopping experience is growing rapidly.
international tourists has resulted in As a result, companies are now investing
With the annual double-digit growth of the
sustained construction and rebranding of heavily in digital transformation strategies
e-commerce channel, retail companies are
hotels in Osaka and Kyoto and urgent hiring with a greater focus on digital experience
revising their e-commerce sales targets
of professionals with English proficiency. with mobile devices. As the omnichannel
upwards while also moving to increase the
There is also growing demand for bilingual business model becomes more popular,
size of their e-commerce divisions to boost
professionals at leisure facilities in the region demand is increasing both for professionals
overall sales. It used to be common practise
with an increasing number of positions in who can carry out web design guided by an
for e-commerce specialists to be assigned
marketing and business planning. awareness of user experience requirements
to online marketing departments, but
as well as those who can strategically place
Furthermore, the Kansai area has seen a more companies have started establishing
targeted advertising to increase traffic. Some
dramatic increase in leisure facility and airline dedicated e-commerce departments.
companies are also beginning to establish
company workforce sizes due to the rising As a result, companies have moved to
new conversion manager positions for data
number of LCC routes and flights connecting recruit senior professionals to head these
analysis and the creation of frameworks that
to Kansai International Airport. There is departments and junior professionals to fill
induce customers to purchase products.
also increasing recruitment of temporary out their teams. The e-commerce channel
and contract staff across a broad range has rapidly increased its share of total sales A number of advertising technology firms
of sectors, from marketing and human in the retail market and it is now outpacing have entered the Japan market, and there
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