2017
Japan
Salary & Employment Outlook

Overview of employment conditions, skills in demand, sector trends and
salary benchmarks in Japan

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Japan overview

Japan: A leader in technological innovation

Japanese companies are looking forward to a better year ahead after a relatively challenging 2016. Contract employees, which currently make up about 40 per cent of the national workforce, will remain a major human resource for most companies. Hiring is expected to pick up this year, especially in the healthcare and life sciences technology sector, led by a consistent demand for innovative solutions in light of the country’s rapidly ageing population.

Financial services are growing more cautiously. Revenue growth has dipped and banks are cutting back, choosing instead to focus on core markets. Another area that’s experiencing a slide is retail, as overall spending has declined along with waning consumer confidence and a slowdown in tourist spending.

Talent shortages continue to be a challenge in many industries, but this is felt most keenly by foreign multinationals, where bilingual speakers who can speak English and Japanese are few. Many Japanese also prefer to work for domestic firms, which they see as more secure. Movement across companies remains rare as employees often stay with their organisations for the long-term.

Similar to other markets across Asia, technology firms in growth areas such as cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence will find it hardest to hire mid- to senior-position executives with in-depth experience. Bringing in talent from overseas to fill these positions is often not a viable solution as skilled developers who can also speak Japanese are relatively rare.

Still, Japan’s domestic technology sector will likely stay ahead of other markets when it comes to inventing new products and services. The country has a celebrated history of innovating, with a relatively greater consumer acceptance of technological advances within the region. Candidates with industry experience and competency in engineering and programming skills are likely to receive multiple offers.

In terms of diversity and inclusion initiatives, domestic companies still lag behind foreign firms. Not only are men the preferred choice when it comes to management roles, many women still prefer to be housewives following marriage, rather than work full-time.

In fact, the 2013 National Survey on Family by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare showed that the number of married women in their 20s who think women should be stay-home wives has increased to 41.6 per cent, compared with 35.7 per cent in 2003, reported the BBC.

The good news is that the current status quo may change as a result of the government’s recent efforts to increase the percentage of women in the workforce. As Japan’s workforce gradually takes steps towards increasing diversity, bringing in talent with different perspectives, companies’ abilities to create and innovate will potentially rise, ultimately improving their bottom line.

Accounting & Finance

The accounting and finance job market has enjoyed steady growth and clear signs of stabilisation in line with economic trends. Although the majority of activity is still driven by replacement hiring, over the next 12 months, we expect to see the demand for finance professionals continue to increase, which will create further competition in the market.

Hiring activity for accounting and finance professionals remains strong within the consumer sector, particularly FMCG, and the healthcare sector, particularly pharmaceutical and medical devices.

As many companies expand and look to improve their business operations, they seek finance professionals that possess highly specific skills, with particular emphasis on financial analysis, audit and internal controls.

For experience level, the highest demand remains for professionals at staff level and middle management. Accountants and analysts holding a postgraduate qualification and possessing strong communication skills are still one of the most sought-after groups within the accounting and finance job market. Companies are increasingly eager to strengthen their internal organisation and management teams by hiring candidates with master’s degrees, particularly MBAs.

Financial analysts, financial planning & analysis (FP&A) managers, and financial controllers are a selection of the roles in highest demand. Due to the importance of these skills to business performance, they are replaced urgently whenever there is turnover.

For C-level positions, organisations seek individuals who can make a positive impact on the business by: supporting the decision making process, performing analysis, identifying trends, formulating business strategies, increasing company efficiency through cost control, and understanding the constantly evolving regulatory environment.

Accounting and finance managers with bilingual abilities continue to be in high demand. This skill is a high priority given that finance professionals in foreign multinational companies are often required to interact with an overseas parent company or group finance functions. These roles typically require the ability to effectively communicate with different areas of a business and analyse information received from various departments.

Cost pressure remains strong for finance and accounting positions, however companies will have to show flexibility and offer competitive compensation and benefits in order to attract top talent in the market.

We anticipate that accounting and finance positions will see an increase in compensation, especially on starting salaries, with the average increase being between 5-15 per cent.

The increase would be dependent on a number of factors including industry, company size, role responsibilities and seniority.

Candidates in high demand functions, such as FP&A, will typically receive multiple offers, and will be able to command above-average salary and bonus levels when seeking alternative employment opportunities. Individuals with these skills are often changing jobs for larger salary increases, which is placing upward salary pressure on employers.

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Banking & Financial Services

Uncertainty in global financial markets in the second half of 2016 with the Brexit vote and the US presidential election has had an impact on headcount approvals. We expect global investment banks to take a cautious approach to hiring in Q1 2017 as they wait to see how these changes will impact the markets.

Increased regulation has resulted in sustained growth in the number of governance, risk and compliance roles being created across all areas from investment banks, corporate banks and asset management firms. This growth in non-revenue generating roles has resulted in increased costs that front office teams have to mitigate, at a time when banks’ willingness to take risks is limited and margins are being squeezed.

Hiring in asset management was relatively stable throughout 2016 and we expect this trend to continue in 2017. Negative interest rates and the corresponding yields in the domestic bond market ultimately mean that investors will continue to seek greater returns from foreign equities and alternative investments, resulting in greater demand for professionals with experience in these asset classes.

We expect the majority of global investment banks to limit most front office hiring to replacement hires in the early part of 2017. For primary markets we expect continued demand for strong M&A candidates from junior to mid-level with direct experience, whilst for secondary markets we expect sales and trading hiring to remain relatively flat, with an increase in demand from some firms for junior equity research analysts due to high attrition rates.

With asset managers shifting investment strategies from bonds to equities and alternative investments, product managers with knowledge and expertise in technical products and investment risk will continue to be in high demand.

Compliance officers with experience in AML (Anti-Money Laundering), ASF (Anti-Social Forces), compliance testing, e-communications monitoring and trade surveillance remain in high demand.

Within operations, we expect continued growth in opportunities for candidates with experience in KYC (know your customer), client onboarding and regulatory operations. Finance professionals with experience in areas such as financial reporting, liquidity risk management, capital adequacy and stress testing are highly sought after as financial institutions continue to improve internal controls and comply with new global standards as outlined in Basel III.

Salary levels for banking professionals working in front office, finance, middle office and operations will largely remain constant with the previous year.

There continues to be a shortage of experienced compliance and regulatory focused professionals, meaning that candidates with direct experience can typically negotiate for a higher salary when making a lateral move.

In general, candidates can typically expect a pay rise of approximately 10 per cent on base salary when making a lateral move, although this may be higher for those candidates with niche experience or an in-demand skill set.

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Engineering

Similar to previous years, technological developments across various fields in the manufacturing industry have led to strong hiring activity for engineers and engineering related positions. Specifically, mid-career recruitment in the automotive, energy, and chemical industries continues to be robust.

Demand for bilingual engineers, from both Japanese and foreign-owned enterprises, is expected to become even more competitive.

Automation trends, and a shift from mechanical to electrical systems will intensify, leading to further development in sensing and control technologies. This will be further bolstered by the development of IoT (Internet of things) products. As a result, demand for electrical engineering positions that deal with automatic-movement and smart grids such as, technical marketing, application engineers and sales engineers, will likely increase.

The potential salary difference when changing jobs to a mature versus high-growth business is likely to widen. High-growth businesses will offer better compensation due to the short supply and high demand for talent. The supply of talent is not keeping pace with these businesses’ growth and leading to a state of ongoing and unfilled urgent positions. Depending on market conditions and candidates’ skills and experience, salary increases of 10 to 30 per cent may be possible. However, mature businesses will recruit primarily for replacement positions and salaries will be based on the previous incumbent’s compensation level.

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Healthcare & Life Sciences

In 2017, healthcare companies are forecasted to continue to grow in Japan due to the ageing population and often expensive new treatments becoming available.

The Japanese government is aiming to cut the nation’s healthcare spending through the increased usage of generic pharmaceutical options (with a target of 70 per cent) and an efficient Health Technology Assessment (HTA) program to control pricing and access. This may lead to a gradual increase in revenue for generic drug manufacturers but a slight decline for branded pharmaceutical companies.

Life sciences has decreased in revenue and profit over the past two years, but is set to increase with an expected rise in government spending.

Diagnostics has steadily become a growth market with high revenue, but low profit margins, and the industry is at risk of maturing early.

Hiring in the pharmaceutical industry will increase in areas such as government policy and Health Economics Outcome Research (HEOR) due to the gradual implementation of HTA in Japan.

Regulatory affairs, quality and safety functions will continue to bring in mid-level leaders due to a more experienced pool of talent in these fields.

Medical Science Liaison (MSL) positions have started replacing Medical Representative (MR) headcount because of the need for highly technical communication between key opinion leaders and pharmaceutical companies.

Due to investment in the medical device, life sciences and diagnostic industries, hiring of sales representatives and junior marketing professionals are expected to increase.

Salary and bonus levels in 2017 are set to increase slightly to remain in line with the estimated 2.2 per cent growth in the healthcare industry. Since employee movement among healthcare companies is increasing, employers are raising salary levels to retain strong talent.

Contract research organisations (CROs), Contract sales organisations (CSOs) and other vendors continue to offer higher salaries than pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers in order to draw talent from them.

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Human Resources

Hiring activity within the human resources field has remained strong and is expected to continue at similar levels over the next 12 months. The strength of hiring activity can be attributed to a shortage of qualified and bilingual professionals.

There has been a steady number of available jobs, and a continued increase for HR business partners as well as for in-house recruiting positions with direct sourcing capabilities.

Industries with the most demand have been retail, healthcare, manufacturing and IT. Financial industries recruited at similar levels to the previous year and openings were mainly replacement positions.

The retail industries have always seen high demand for HR professionals. They are competing against established Japanese brands and are committed to investing in their staff to retain a leading position in the Japanese market. In 2016, there was a growing trend for retail companies to create separate retail HR teams in conjunction with corporate HR teams, which has strengthened the hiring activity for retail HR professionals.

The IT industry continues to demonstrate innovation, growth and diversity. As a result, more support is needed from HR professionals to increase headcount to capitalise on growth potential. IT companies, taking the lead on other industries, continue to recruit through their own networks with mixed results. In many cases vacancies are filled, but not with the best candidates available in the market, resulting in a need to re-fill the same positions due to poor performance.

A greater number of companies seeking strategic HR professionals, combined with a lack of bilingual professionals and a rapidly ageing workforce, is spurring hiring activity for HR professionals with strategic mindsets.

HR generalists and HR business partner positions continue to be in demand as there is an increased demand for HR professionals who are capable of interfacing and partnering with the business from a strategic point of view, rather than operating purely as a support function. These job functions are expected to be in high demand over the next 12 months.

With some international companies viewing Japan as an optimistic market for growth, there is a high demand for recruiters who have previous experience sourcing and attracting talent through innovative channels, such as direct sourcing, in order to cut recruitment costs.

Recruitment roles will continue to be in high demand over the next 12 months. As many businesses in Japan are challenged with a shortage of bilingual talent, they need proactive recruiting professionals who are able to represent and market their organisations to the wider job market.

For multinational companies, it is always advantageous for HR professionals to be fluent in English. Businesses will also favour professionals with direct sourcing and strategic HR skills for implementing new, cost saving initiatives – skills that are currently in high demand.

We expect steady salary growth throughout 2017 with an average increase of anywhere between 5-15 per cent when changing positions.

Traditionally, companies in Japan have provided guaranteed bonuses but it is now more common to have performance-based bonuses.

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Legal

Hiring activity for the legal market in 2016 was fluid, particularly with an increase in demand for in-house legal counsels, legal managers and compliance professionals.

The biggest areas for growth in 2016, which we also expect to continue to grow next year, were the healthcare, life sciences and technology industries.

In the healthcare and life sciences industries, compliance and regulatory specialists are in high demand as Japan continues to catch up with global standards. Legal counsels are also highly sought after as many companies seek to expand their Japanese operations.

Media, telecom and software companies in the technology sector will also continue to grow, especially with Japanese companies expanding into overseas markets.

Legal managers and contract management positions that handle matters in both English and Japanese will continue to be in demand.

We expect to see continued growth for legal experts in the gaming sector, especially with the growth of the casual gaming sector.

The financial services industry has experienced limited growth due to uncertainty caused by events such as Brexit and surging oil prices. As a result, the demand for legal counsels has decreased substantially with negative pressure on salaries. Financial institutions seek experience and specialisation in capital markets, M&A and compliance.

Private practice firms have seen reductions in their business compared to former years. The growth of some law firms, as well as reductions in rates, has increased the competitiveness between firms. However, there has been a strong demand for junior Japanese associate lawyers (bengoshi) with experience in finance. For foreign associates or senior associates there has been demand in experience with projects and M&A. Experienced Japanese lawyers with more than five years of PQE have been sought after for positions in antitrust and project finance.

Similar to last year, companies in the healthcare, life sciences and technology industries will offer competitive compensation commensurate with their growth, with salary increases of over 10 per cent.

In other industries, candidates can expect the market average of 10 per cent increases when making a lateral move.

For private practices and the financial service industry, remuneration will remain constant, but may not see the same growth as previous years.

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Office Support

While the number of secretarial and assistant positions has remained constant, the demand for office managers has increased. This is due to more firms looking to combine the skills of general affairs, accounting, and human resources into a single office manager role.

Customer service staff are in high demand. However, due to the short supply, it is often necessary to consider candidates from different industries or backgrounds to fill customer service roles.

For secretarial positions, calls for more secure full-time employment are growing stronger due to amendments to the Worker Dispatch Act. Flexibility around employment contracts will be increasingly important for employers.

Although office support hiring is expected to remain active in 2017, most secretarial, assistant and general affair positions are replacement roles with little change in the overall number of positions.

Hiring for customer support positions has increased in recent years. It is particularly so in the retail industry, where the increase in inbound customers has created a sharp increase in English speaking customer roles. This trend is expected to continue into 2017.

In B2B industries, the demand for sales assistants who can cover basic work receiving orders is increasing. Positions that cover a wide range of tasks or encompass multiple roles are increasingly popular and we expect this trend to continue in the future.

Salary levels for office support roles will be about the same as the previous year. The financial services and pharmaceuticals industries will continue to pay relatively more than others due to the higher level of English ability required and their overall more demanding and fast-paced work environments.

In other industries there will be little change, except for customer service roles commensurate with the higher requirements for English ability will tend to pay more.

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Retail

While retail sales, operations and merchandising (buyers) remains stable, we see a decrease in PR and communications roles, especially in luxury businesses. Conversely, almost all retail businesses are putting more focus in the digital area.

We continue to see more consumer and retail businesses trying to increase their online presence. A majority of consumer products businesses started selling their products online, either through online retailers such as Amazon, Rakuten, and Yahoo! or their own e-commerce sites.

For businesses that already have an online sales channel, there has been more emphasis on increasing online presence through social media or by using analytics.

The shortage of talent in the digital area remains a challenge in the market, and will continue as more companies launch their online businesses.

Since it is a newer area of expertise, there is less supply than demand in the Japan market. However, this situation opens up opportunities for high-potential talent who are interested in going into digital as a career change.

Businesses are also more willing to consider non-Japanese talent with limited Japanese language ability if they have the right skills and experience.

Digital marketing, analyst, e-commerce manager, e-commerce merchandiser, and e-commerce sales roles will be in high demand.

Bilingual merchandisers with 3-7 years of experience will also be sought after.

Since the retail industry in 2016 was not very active due to less inbound business, we do not foresee substantial bonuses or salary increases. Exceptions may apply for e-commerce and sports companies, due to the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

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Sales & Marketing

Sales

Recent developments across a variety of industries are likely to create and influence sales positions.

In the automotive industry, technological advances, such as self-driving or autonomous cars, will create many new opportunities.

In the IT industry, virtual reality, although still a burgeoning area, will also provide growth opportunities throughout 2017.

E-commerce will continue to grow as existing businesses set up and improve their online presences as new businesses, both domestic and foreign, launch.

Fintech (financial technology) companies will further expand into the Japan market, offering candidates an opportunity to diversify their sales skills and join high-growth organisations.

The introduction of reduced-risk products within the tobacco industry will offer growth and likely transform the industry.

The alcoholic beverages industry has changed dramatically throughout 2016 and will continue to do so throughout 2017, following global trends of consumers developing more of a taste for craft beers, wines and whiskies.

Marketing

The healthcare, pharmaceutical and technology sectors continue to have a high demand for bilingual marketers, especially digital marketing candidates. These industries pay above market averages and tend to offer more dynamic, international environments. Hiring companies find that generating a large pipeline of candidates with a mixture of industry experience, functional expertise and bilingual ability is extremely difficult. For these reasons, they are increasingly looking to attract candidates from other industries while also exploring internal options.

The outlook for marketing and communications in Japan remains strong with healthcare companies being extremely active, and technology firms continuing to invest in Japan, attempting to grow within the large domestic market.

Sales

Within the consumer industry, bilingual sales managers are always highest in demand, ideally with relevant sales channels relationships, such as convenience stores, home stores or GMS (general merchandise stores). Consumer directors and general managers with similar relationships will be in demand. However there can be exceptions where companies are simply looking for a fresh ideas and will require a general background at a major FMCG business irrespective of their product range or sales channels.

Within the B2B industry, sales managers and directors will be in high demand. There are higher expectations for account management and higher service levels, making existing relationships within the industry and with distributors very important.

Country manager and director-level opportunities will arise in 2017 as demand for executive-level sales professionals, who can genuinely impact revenue and profitability, continues.

Marketing

Social media marketing recruitment is on the rise with demand far outstripping supply. Japan lags behind other markets as bilingual social media marketers who have strong analytical skills are very rare. Localisation of content and campaigns remains the norm. Many foreign companies in Japan are not engaging as strategically and effectively as they potentially could with their Japanese customer base because of this lack of local expertise.

Sales

The average increase in compensation is typically around 10 per cent. Companies within the consumer goods industry such as tobacco and FMCG will potentially pay more for strong performers.

Within B2B, the bonus level is around 10 to 30 per cent, with the highest paying industries being automotive, network, and communications. Average salary increases would be around 5 to 10 per cent.

Marketing

Salaries and bonuses have remained fairly constant with yearly increases ranging on average between 2 to 4 per cent. Candidates looking to change jobs should expect modest compensation increases between 3 to 8 per cent. Companies continue to employ non-monetary selling points such as work-life balance, title changes, and flex-time to encourage potential talent.

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Supply Chain

Compared to 2015, there were more fluctuations in purchasing and supply chain recruitment. The first half of 2016 was relatively stable, while the latter half, partially due to Brexit, saw a decrease in positions.

Manufacturing and healthcare companies with supply chains at the core of their businesses were relatively more stable, managing to maintain or even increase headcount.

The impact of the US Presidential election’s outcome on Japan is unknown, but the yen has maintained a relatively high value since then. If this trend continues, we expect purchasing and supply chain recruitment to remain in high demand throughout 2017.

Due to ongoing talent shortages, professionals with supply/demand planning expertise will remain in high demand across all industries. Those with advanced statistical and analytical skills that are required for accurate prediction of sales and supply trends will be particularly sought after.

In direct purchasing, bilingual candidates who are able to negotiate contracts and prices with overseas suppliers will be in high demand.

Compared to last year, there has been an increase in indirect purchasing positions with active hiring across a wide range of industries from manufacturing to services.

Supply chain managers and directors with expertise in a specific industry will be able to command high salaries. This is due not only to their technical skills with planning, logistics, 3PL operation and customer service, but also their ability to manage the entire supply chain and create positive relationships with business partners and senior executives.

Purchasing managers and directors with strong negotiating and sourcing skills, who can establish purchasing strategies, manage teams and stakeholders, and contribute to the business by reducing costs of direct and indirect materials will also command high salaries.

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Technology

Vendor

As Japan prepares for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as well as next generation 5G mobile networks, infrastructure is expected to vastly improve, positively affecting mostly the telecommunications and networking industries in the short term.

The digital industries, including Internet and ad tech, are expected to grow rapidly. Leaps in AI (artificial intelligence) are helping us interact with computers better, with improvements to digital assistants, search, and language processing/translation. These areas will continue to expand as the pharmaceutical and engineering industries interconnect, and technologies require further development in their respective fields.

Financial Services

In 2017, we expect that the majority of foreign multinationals in the securities and asset management sectors will hire IT staff for critical positions only, such as internal client facing production support roles.

In the insurance industry, we expect hiring to remain strong across the board for all position types, particularly application development and operations.

Key job areas that we anticipate growth for are data analytics and IT security as more organisations see the necessity to both analyse and protect their data.

Commerce

In 2016, three major trends stood out overall amongst commercial companies: high turnover rates among executive level hires, particularly in the healthcare industry, strong demand for experience with big data analysis and digital marketing tools, and a two-fold increase in e-commerce related roles.

The healthcare industry has shifted focus from ERP (enterprise resource planning) to the use of commercial systems as they have started to rely heavily on digital communication tools. More managerial positions have also arisen due to a trend towards vertical team structures.

In the retail/FMCG industry, almost one-third of open positions were new headcount due to business expansions or spin-offs from joint ventures. In addition, the need to accumulate and analyse larger datasets has led to continued high demand for CRM and digital marketing professionals, with half of these positions being newly created. Finally, a surge in demand for POS (point of sale) skills, a major global trend which is already being trialled by a few leading retail brands in Japan, has led to about 20 per cent of positions demanding such experience.

For the manufacturing, automotive, and logistics industries, most positions were for common internal IT roles such as infrastructure support or project management. Additionally, there were more team management roles due to replacement and succession planning.

Vendor

With vast quantities of data readily available to businesses, the ability to interpret and generate meaningful insights has become ever more important. Roles that relate to data analysis, including data scientists, business intelligence analysts, and AI researchers will be high in demand.

Financial Services

Data scientists, security technologists, application support and engineers focused on regulatory system development will be in demand for 2017.

Commerce

Demand for BA and PM positions will remain high, with candidates in short supply, as the retail/FMCG industries implement omnichannel and launch new e-commerce systems.

There will be increased demand for data scientists and data analysts with many companies establishing data warehouses and the ever growing accumulation of data.

The hiring of e-commerce related positions will increase as retail/FMCG and healthcare companies look to drive more sales online. The growth of e-commerce and subsequent necessity for additional delivery and distribution networks will also affect logistics companies. As they expand or open additional distribution centres, new IT and technology roles will be created.

Vendor

Positions in high demand will generally see an increase in salaries ranging from 20 per cent or more, but overall salary ranges are expected to remain similar to 2016.

Alternatively, in place of salary increases more companies are starting to offer extra benefits such as sign-on bonuses, restricted stock units, flexibility in the workplace, unlimited PTO (paid time off), and retirement packages.

Financial Services

Data scientists are expected to see the largest salary increases in 2017 with raises of 20 per cent or more. Other roles will likely see salaries remain consistent with 2016 levels.

Commerce

Due to a shortage of talent in CRM, BI (business intelligence), and digital, we anticipate salary increases as much as 50 per cent for candidates with skills and experience in these areas.

Salaries for ERP positions, business analysts, and infrastructure administration/support, will grow at a slower pace of 0-20 per cent.

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Temp & Contract

Temp IT

Security, IOT (Internet of Things), big data, cloud services, social media, gaming and e-commerce are the most active areas of the technology market, attracting the majority of younger talent and leading to a lack of high potential candidates who no longer see a career in internal corporate IT as a desirable career path.

The high competition and short supply is also driving salaries up and many firms are now competing with additional non-monetary benefits, providing flexibility in the workplace as a means of attracting young talent.

As in previous years, bilingual skills are given very high priority for all positions in technology. While we expect this to continue throughout 2017, the already limited talent pool and high competition will limit the pool of candidates further. Companies that focus on technical skill sets and show flexibility regarding bilingual skills have been the most successful in hiring.

Temp Specialist

Throughout 2016, there has been a steady demand for specialist temporary/contract professionals in business support functions. Maternity leave cover for higher skilled positions has also increased. Hiring companies continue to rely on temporary/contract workers as uncertainties in the local and global economies persist.

Retail, FMCG, pharmaceutical, B2B/B2C and technology sectors have continued to hire a high volume of workers on a temporary/contract basis. Financial services, most notably securities, investment banking and asset management, have remained cautious, limiting their recruitment activity to replacement or maternity leave cover.

Temp IT

Financial Services

With the upturn in permanent recruitment across a number of sectors outside of financial services, the competition for contract employees has also steadily increased with many bilingual IT professionals pursuing careers outside the industry which offer competitive salaries, greater work life balance and utilise the latest cutting-edge technologies.

Hiring in investment banking and asset management will remain slow, although positions requiring direct interaction with local users such as project management, business analysis and application/desktop support will continue to be in high demand. Insurance will continue to have higher demand for IT professionals.

Recruitment across development areas will continue to be confined to regulatory-driven development projects and also be in low demand.

Commerce

Telecommunications and networking will see increased expansion with the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as well as the launch of 5G networking. This will drive the demand for experienced engineers in these areas.

Retail, FMCG, e-commerce and manufacturing companies will continue to have high demand for data analytics, data scientists, web developers, and localisation.

IT vendor and services companies will also have a constant demand for SAP, system architects and project managers, however the demand for developers has dropped as these firms utilise offshore models.

Temp Specialist

Market uncertainties are leading to an increase in ‘temporary-to-permanent’ positions in many companies, including higher-level roles.

Business support functions will continue to have the highest demand in 2017. As many foreign companies remain conservative due to the ongoing uncertainty in the global economic climate, amplified by the Brexit vote and US election results, we expect to see an increase in demand for ‘temp to perm’ or ‘direct contract to permanent’ positions throughout the course of 2017 in higher level positions such as accounting, sales and marketing, audit, compliance, HR and operations.

Temp IT

Depending on the level of seniority, junior candidates can expect to receive up to 20 per cent salary increases. However, in some cases salaries could remain flat or possibly even decrease where highly experienced staff have been made redundant and are searching for a new position.

Temp Specialist

Salaries within general assistant secretarial and administrator areas will remain relatively stable, although changing jobs could see small increases. The larger salary increases will be in the senior-level accounting, sales, marketing and audit roles, where companies will need to offer high salaries to attract the best talent.

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