Employers looking for qualified information technology experts in Japan will likely shorten recruitment processes and offer higher pay perks to secure their preferred candidates.
According to the latest Hays Quarterly Report for the October to December quarter, few IT professionals are currently unemployed and the best candidates have more than one offer in their hands at a time as companies in various industries are beefing up their data analysis teams.
“Demand for IT professionals will remain consistently high,” says Marc Burrage, Managing Director for Hays in Japan. “The hiring of IT candidates will become even more competitive as employers battle against each other to secure much-needed talent.”
It’s found that organisations including financial institutions, manufacturers and retailers, have placed an unprecedented emphasis on technologies to nurture further growth of their businesses, leaving an abundant number of new positions to fill.
“Many employers are unleashing new roles and hope to fill these positions before the end of the calendar year,” says Marc. “We find that the speed and urgency of hiring will continue to increase since, in many cases, multiple companies are hiring the same type of position despite a shortage of qualified candidates.”
Application support is also a hot function as insurance and investment banking firms accelerate their go-digital drive to win more clients.
“IT security engineers, big data specialists, business intelligence engineers and project managers are all in high demand,” says Marc. “Employers are more willing to increase their hiring budgets to attract more IT professionals to help transform their business.”
“Bilingual talent will be particularly sought after in the upcoming year as multinational companies are striving to align their IT operating systems worldwide.” In terms of candidate trends, Hays says that high-skilled candidates will push for higher salaries and better benefits before making decisions to move.
“The talent shortage enables candidates to comfortably request increased wages when they are approached,” says Marc. “Some candidates like to see as many options as possible in the candidate-short market.”
See: Surge in Japanese professionals Seeking New Job Opportunities in Q3 2016
Big data technology advances are driving the need to hire talented analysts/scientists to implement the changes and gain business benefits from utilising existing big data. Such venture companies are developing new analytic tools that are tailored to these clients as well. This niche knowledge is consistently in high demand with various industry sectors competing for the available talent.
With big data, it goes without saying that Business Intelligence Engineers are in high demand. This is a role which is an extremely competitive area where we foresee continued high demand across all industries.
For Head of HR openings or HR Managers there is increasing pressure from regional and global headquarters to hire more assertive, proactive HR leaders for Japan. This may often conflict with the judgment of local Japanese management or cause a delay in the process.
Nevertheless, successfully hiring a globally-aligned HR leader is deemed as an inevitable step for the globalisation of Japanese business. In finance, many asset management and securities firms are still on hiring freeze or slowing down the process; despite this, a few HRBP positions are active in the market. We see demand for senior or experienced HRBP, especially those with the relevant finance industry background.
We are seeing a higher number of L&D and Training positions at various levels. This trend is not limited to industry but is widespread across retail, sales and leadership capacities. There is a lack of bilingual L&D professionals of all levels and some clients would compromise to find junior-level candidates.
Large firms across the industry tend to look for senior-level HR Business Partners when the need for replacements arises. Less transactional, senior-level HRBPs are needed to coach fellow junior HR members and deal with more complex matters.
Also read: Employers in Japan Struggle to Find Globally Aligned HR Professionals
