Reflection and Projection

Goodbye Rabbit!

It is easy to forget that Japan entered 2023 still hampered by Covid border controls which did not fully end until May 8th.? Since then, inbound tourism has ramped up quickly on the back of the continued weakness of the yen.? The start of the year saw a lot of excitement around generative AI like Chat GPT and how it would impact our jobs.? For many it has taken some administrative load away and allowed them to spend more time on higher value tasks.? So far in Japan it has not resulted in huge job losses and it is creating jobs in many ways with new companies and new consulting roles around AI.? In early 2023 there were some limited lay-offs across the big foreign tech firms and the outlook for the transportation industry was bleak.? On the whole though, the bilingual recruitment market fundamentals stayed the same, with an over-demand and under-supply of bilingual talent across finance and accounting, supply chain, marketing and HR.

Enter the Dragon

We expect continued strong demand for hiring key positions in 2024 across transportation, FMCG and manufacturing with an emphasis on bilingual business partnering skills for finance, supply chain, HR and marketing roles.? Work-style demands make a candidate short market even more challenging as candidates need salary, responsibilities, location, industry and work-style to align before they agree to interview for roles and this will continue in 2024.? Employers should be aware that they need to be flexible on work-style and have a clear employer value proposition to attract and retain top talent.?

Japan Rugby 2024

Eddie Jones is back in charge of Japan Rugby for the second time in his career.? He is promising to bring speedy rugby and to fast-track young players from the University teams.? His first game in charge will be in June against England in Tokyo.? In January there is much to look forward to rugby wise with Rugby League One, Japan Universities Rugby Finals and High Schools Rugby Finals.? The University Rugby Quarter Finals are on this weekend with two games in central Tokyo at Chichibunomiya ground.?