April 2003 - J@pan Inc Magazine (English Only)

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2. April 2003 - J@pan Inc Magazine (English Only)

“Recruiting“

Author: Stuart Braun

Amid a worsening recession, rising unemployment and failed economic reforms, Japan’s recruitment and human resources industry is still finding ways to exploit the world’s second biggest economy.

AMID A WORSENING ECONOMIC recession, rising unemployment and failed economic reforms, Japan’s recruitment and human resources industry is still finding ways to exploit the world’s second biggest economy. A continuing downturn in the Japanese labor market has forced HR companies to reevaluate and improve their strategic approach to staffing and executive recruitment. They are now seeking to transcend domestic barriers by integrating more fully in the global marketplace, forging closer associations with foreign firms and an expanding pool of bilingual candidates.

"Clients are hiring fewer people, so competition in the market amongst recruiting firms is more severe." The point is reiterated by Richard Bysouth, CEO of CareerCross, an online job board, who says that over the last few years "we have seen some big changes" in the job market in Japan. "The global downturn and the events of 9/11," continues Bysouth, "has meant a drastic cutback in hiring, with many companies basically going on hiring freezes. Even though there is still a big need for people with both English and Japanese language abilities and good skill sets, companies are a lot more concerned in finding exactly the right person and doing it as economically and effectively as possible."

CareerCross Japan’s Richard Bysouth similarly describes his firm’s attempt to address a gap in the recruitment market in Japan. "Having worked as a recruiter in Japan for many years, I had first hand experience of how few resources there were available for both direct hiring companies and recruiters to try and find skilled and experienced staff who had fluency in both English and Japanese. The options available were expensive, unwieldy and most of all, not well-targeted. With the rapid increase in popularity of the Internet at that time and the success of other online job boards overseas, creating a web-based recruiting medium that focused on the needs of the Japanese bilingual job market seemed an obvious answer." By staying "very focused" on the bilingual job market -- the CareerCross site is fully bilingual -- Bysouth says CareerCross have been not only been able to stay successful, but have been able to ride out the "dot bomb" phenomenon. "Since we started CareerCross we have grown into one of biggest, if not the biggest, of the online job boards for bilinguals in Japan, which is quite an achievement in this subdued market."

Many, including Bysouth of CareerCross, believe that the recruitment market in Japan is indeed beginning to mature and evolve. "Many of the big name, global recruitment companies have established a localized presence in Japan," he says, "while the shake out among the smaller, homegrown ones has meant that those left over are generally very focused on a particular area or industry." He does not see a return to the days of big expat salaries and almost constant hiring, but believes there will always be a need for good, experienced professionals who have ability in both languages.