JAPAN REPORTS HIGHEST USAGE OF TEMPORARY/CONTRACT STAFF IN ASIA FOR FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW

Japan continues to lead the adoption of hiring temporary/contracting staff in Asia for the fourth year in a row, finds the latest Asia Salary Guide report by leading recruitment experts Hays. The report’s findings further showcase the support temporary/contracting workers offer to the Japanese economy, particularly in terms of uncertainty where their specialized skillsets and flexibility prove most valuable.

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.

Demand for temporary/contract workers will remain consistent

When asked how often they employed temporary or contract staff, 51 per cent of employers in Japan said they did so ‘on a regular, ongoing basis’, the highest percentage to say so in Asia by far for the fourth year in a row. For comparison, employers in Malaysia scored second highest in this respect with only 30 per cent, while the Asia average stands at 32 per cent. 59 per cent of employers in Japan also said they expected their use of temporary/contract staff to remain the same over the next 12 months, while 26 per cent said they expected it to increase.

When asked for the reasons behind why they plan to recruit temporary or contract staff in the next 12 months, the majority of employers in Japan (46 per cent) said it was so meet peaks in demand. Other top reasons cited included ‘to ensure flexibility of staffing costs’ (29 per cent) and ‘difficulty finding suitable permanent workers’ (24 per cent). These results show that flexible recruitment solutions can not only provide short-term solutions for certain period of time, but also long-term benefits like cost saving for employers.

Communication and digital skills in most demand

When asked which skills they were looking for when hiring temporary or contract staff, the majority of employers in Japan said ‘communication’ (61 per cent) followed by ‘tech/digital’ (36 per cent), ‘data and analytics’ (34 per cent). These results mark the growing importance of soft skills and digital skills in the local workforce, and the growing understanding amongst employers that temporary or contract staff can help plug these gaps. Considering that 95 per cent of employers in Japan said that skill shortages would hamper the effective operation of their business/department in 2020, hiring contracting or temporary workers may prove to be an enduring solution for employers facing skill shortages both in the short and long term

New regulations will enable more flexible workers to enter the workforce

More flexible workers are expected to enter the workforce with the Japanese government implementing new "equal pay for equal work" regulations (Japanese) that came into effect on 1 April 2020. The regulations push for fairer pay for temporary workers, with guidelines that will require companies to raise their pay by 30% within three years. The results of these regulations will likely lead to increased adoption of flexible working and hiring practices in Japan as temporary or contracting work becomes a more viable line of work for skilled professionals.

Richard Eardley, Managing Director at Hays Japan commented, “Japan has often led the ranks when it comes to adopting innovative solutions in the region, and our survey results show this is still very much the case. Flexible recruitment solutions, or the hiring of temporary or contract staff, is a well-established and mainstream hiring model that has seen widespread success in the UK, Germany and other Western geographies. While other parts of Asia such as Hong Kong SAR and Singapore are very much on their way to realising this, Japan remains a leader in the area. Considering the acute shortage of skills that Japan is facing, the new government regulations for equal pay come at an opportune time where both companies and individuals can reap the benefits of temporary or contract work amidst a softening global economic outlook.”

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