Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido plans to widen its talent scope by building personnel training centers in several parts of the world, including Singapore, the U.S, and Europe. The move is taken as part of the efforts to cultivate global talent amidst the fiercer competition for talent worldwide, Nikkei Asian Review reports.

Deriving more than half of its sales from abroad, the Tokyo-based company has seen the growing challenges in finding and fetching the best candidates. Shiseido’s bid to push globalisation will also include making English its official language under the direction of its President, Masahiko Uotani.

The first training center is set to open in Singapore in September this year. The company expects to receive about 2,000 people a year, with a third of them coming from Japan and the rest from neighbouring countries such as China and Southeast Asia. The center will offer various courses related to cosmetics business and management skills that runs from several weeks to month.

Meanwhile, similar training facilities will be opened in the U.S and Europe by the end of 2019, aiming to train local talents as well as those sent from Japan. Collaboration with local universities in the countries will also be explored later.

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In total, the three locations are expected to absorb up to 4,000 individuals a year. Besides cosmetics and management topics, the company will also consider offering courses on digital marketing, a field where overseas companies are generally strong. Additionally, Shiseido will also encourage talents from different countries to debate and work together in the training exercises in order to improve their English proficiency and communication skills.

Since taking office in 2014, Mr Uotani has pushed to drive and expand the company’s overseas operations. Shiseido actively hires local talents at its key regional offices to develop products and create customised marketing plans to each area. More than 60 nations were represented in its employee ranks as of fiscal 2016.

In Japan, the company plans to make English its official language at its headquarters in October. Currently, about 1,700 employees are taking English courses at the company’s expense. The company is also allowing more employees to pursue education abroad.

Besides Shiseido, internet companies such as Rakuten and other financial institutions have spearheaded Japan’s movement to develop global talent. Among the efforts is to hone employees’ skills in speaking English. Japanese consumer goods makers, which once found sufficient demand in the domestic market, now see the need to grow their business overseas and are investing in global talent to help achieve this.

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