Japan – Recruitment agency fees rising due to tight labour market

By memberservices@staffingindustry.com (Danny Romero)

Businesses in Japan are paying recruitment agencies higher fees to hire experienced workers due to labour shortages, according to Nikkei Asian Review.

Many companies and recruitment firms are closing contracts at rates more than 5% higher than several years ago for IT and construction engineers. According to Adecco, in Japan, “contracts sometimes close at double the usual rate for the hiring of system engineers.”

In February 2017 the job-to-applicants ratio increased to 1.82 for mid-career workers, up 0.14 points compared to the previous year, according to data from Recruit Career, a recruitment services firm and subsidiary of Recruit Holdings.

Labour shortages were seen for IT engineers as the ratio reached 3.67, while the ratio for construction engineers reached 4.41. Demand for construction engineers is expected to grow due to the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Source:: Japan – Recruitment agency fees rising due to tight labour market