95% OF EMPLOYERS IN JAPAN SAY SKILL SHORTAGES WILL IMPACT THEIR BUSINESS OPERATIONS IN 2020
雇用主の大多数が人材のスキル不足による事業運営への支障を懸念

95% of organisations across Japan are bracing for the impact of skill shortages on their effective business operations in 2020, finds the latest Asia Salary Guide report by leading recruitment experts Hays.

This year marks the 13^th edition of the annual Hays Asia Salary Guide, which remains a definitive snapshot of salaries for positions across industries in Asia. The salary and hiring insights, including a thorough market overview of business outlooks, salary policies and recruitment trends, are based on survey responses from close to 6000 working professionals located in the five Hays operating markets in Asia; namely China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.

Skills confidence at a low

When asked if their organisation had the talent needed to achieve current business objectives, only 32 per cent of employers in Japan said ‘yes’, as compared to 35 per cent who said so last year. These scores are the lowest in the region by far, with the Asia average being 51 per cent. 54 per cent answered ‘no’ while a further 15 per cent were ‘unsure’.

Similarly, only 43 per cent of employers said they were confident or very confident that they would be able to recruit candidates with the skills needed to meet their organisation’s needs in the next 12 months. While this is up from only 39 per cent who thought so last year, the numbers are still the lowest in Asia by far and indicate employer expectations of significant hiring challenges in the course of the year.

This is most evident in employer responses to the question, ‘Will skills shortages hamper the effective operation of your business/department in 2020?’. While 45 per cent said ‘yes – there will be some impact’, 50 per cent said ‘yes – without a doubt’ – the highest percentage to say so by far (Asia average 37 per cent).

A whopping 70 percent of organisations also said they were currently restructuring to keep up with changing business needs, with the major driver for this being ‘change in required skill sets’.

More organisations look to hire from overseas

When asked in which areas skill shortages have most negatively impacted their organisation, most employers said productivity (65 per cent), followed by growth or expansion (48 per cent) and employee morale (45 per cent). For the second year in a row, employers largely attributed the skill shortages to ‘lack of training and professional development’ (43 per cent), followed by ‘perception/stereotyping’ and ‘competition for roles/job opportunities’ (34 per cent) – all of which can be identified as pervasive workplace issues in Japan.

To address immediate skill shortages in their organisations, most employers (58 per cent) said they had worked on upskilling their current workforce by identifying skills gaps and providing training in areas found lacking. 43 per cent said they transferred employees between different functions, while 42 per cent said they worked on improving their attraction strategy by increasing recruitment budgets, focusing on employer value proposition etc. 

26 per cent also said they recruited workers from overseas, the highest percentage in Asia to say so after Singapore (28 per cent). In addition, 67 per cent said they would consider employing or sponsoring a qualified overseas candidate in skill short areas – the highest percentage to say so in Asia by far (Asia average 57 per cent).

Richard Eardley, Managing Director at Hays Japan commented, “While Japan’s skill shortage has been at critical levels for some time now, there have been some positive movements in terms of labour policies and the opening up of borders to encourage more overseas talent to come in. While organisations should see an improvement in access to skills as a result of these policies, we would encourage employers to look at what they can do for themselves to address the situation. For example, the reports highlight the continued prevalence of negative stereotyping. In a rapidly changing world with a finite supply of skilled resources, employers would benefit from focusing on what a prospective employee could do, such as their potential and capability, rather than be too ready to discard them based on experience alone. I would also encourage more organisations to cast their recruiting nets wider and be open to hiring individuals from different industries and backgrounds, a practice that has been increasingly beneficial for businesses the world over.”

To download your copy of the 2020 Hays Asia Salary Guide, please click here.

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