Life sciences and e-commerce at the forefront of Japan’s pandemic-inspired supply chain boom
急成長するライフサイエンスとeコマース産業の転職市場が活発化

As with many of Japan’s industries, the pandemic had an immense impact on the supply chain. Unlike most sectors, however, in the aftermath, supply chain has not only risen in prominence, but also in stature and development, and in the year ahead recruitment is expected to soar in a fashion hitherto unseen.

With that said, not all areas of the industry have been so fortunate. The slow decline of Japan’s automotive sector was exacerbated by its over-reliance on China, while economic slowdowns and dwindling automobile sales have also hampered the sector. Further imperilling the industry is how Japanese companies are falling behind in the race to develop battery electric vehicles.

“For many supply chain professionals in the automotive sector, the writing has long been on the wall,” says Grant Torrens, Managing Director at Hays Japan. “They are seeing early retirement pushed on their colleagues, and understandably they are weighing up their options. This is also occurring in industrial and engineering industries, and many are looking to move into more viable, essential industries such as IT, food, FMCG, e-commerce and life sciences.”

By far and away the most popular– not to mention the fastest growing – of these is the life sciences sector, which following the pandemic rose not only in prominence in the public consciousness but also in its importance to the nation.

Likewise, as people moved away from bricks and mortar stores, e-commerce has boomed over the past 18 months, and ambitious supply chain professionals with experience in AI and digitalisation are looking to move in that direction.

With Japan being an importing nation, logistics is the primary area of demand, and with the likes of Amazon and others implementing automated warehouses, young warehouse supervisors, operations supervisors and planning professionals are required.

“As the utilisation of AI automation and digitalisation becomes more commonplace in warehousing, companies are desirous of proactive hands-on managers to run day-to-day operations. Due to the level of the roles, a great deal of experience is not required, as long as candidates can show that they have potential and a knowledge of tools such as SAP or Oracle ERP,” continues Grant.

“They should have a start-up mentality, be adaptable and self-learning so that they can grow into the role, and if they wish to advance their career, they should develop their English language skills as a global outlook is imperative.”

Similar skillsets – global mindset, hands-on management, start-up mentality – are also necessary for senior level candidates, of which project management is the most candidate short area. Of course, for these roles experience is critical, as is a deep industry-specific knowledge, which would unfortunately rule out many applicants looking to migrate from the automotive and industrial sectors.

“With so many positions, offers, counter offers and salary augmentation of up to ten per cent, the supply chain recruitment market should be a hive of activity. However, we are primarily seeing movement from the less-qualified candidates or those who have been victims of recent downsizing,” says Grant.

“The more placeable candidates, due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, are proving more cautious, sacrificing substantial potential gains for the stability of their current roles, further exacerbating the shortage in the candidate pool. As such, it is down to companies to go to greater lengths to entice these top candidates by offering greater working flexibility, clearly outlining future career paths and detailing what upcoming projects they may be part of.

“And for those professionals who are perhaps feeling apprehensive about stepping into the jobs market, I would advise them to explore their options by contacting a recruitment specialist and discovering their worth. As initial recruitment processes are done online, you can speak to prospective employers from your desk or your home and not even take a day off work. Furthermore, even if you do not pursue a role, such enquiries may lead to counter offers from your employer.

“Because right now, top supply chain candidates are selling themselves short. The future of the industry is bigger and better, and candidates who know their worth could really be going places.”

An overview of what other trends have been observed in Japan’s supply chain sector can be viewed below:

• The supply chain industry is taking matters of diversity and inclusion seriously, and interview processes are set in place to weed out candidates with outmoded opinions.
• Due to supply chain’s global nature, candidates with high-level English proficiency are required at all levels of seniority.
• As the sector grows, companies wishing to attract key talent must apportion more resources to recruitment, while closing candidates as early as possible is crucial.
• Candidates wishing to land project management positions are expected to prescribe to the kaizen philosophy.

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