[Event Report] Career Talk:
Foreign-affiliated Firms in Japan Need More Talent

On January 15, 2025, JETRO hosted Career Talk, a face-to-face networking between foreign-affiliated companies and students, jointly with the Institute of Science Tokyo at its Tokyo Tech Front building. Twenty-two foreign-affiliated companies hiring new graduates in Japan exhibited their booths. Approximately 300 university students in Tokyo participated.

This event consisted of two parts. In the first part, Science Tokyo and JETRO delivered seminars on job hunting in Japan and on the trends of foreign-affiliated companies, respectively. In the second part, a networking session was held between students and foreign-affiliated companies. The session was very vibrant with the students actively asking questions on recruitment and career paths after joining the company.

JETRO interviewed representatives from several foreign-affiliated companies that exhibited their booths about their challenges and prospects in recruiting talent in the Japanese market.

Haruyuki Suzuki from CES CHUUDEN Co., Ltd., an IT-related company, talks about a dilemma in recruiting experienced personnel and increasing demand for STEM students:

"As our Japanese subsidiary is still a small company with a small number of people, we want work-ready human resources but find it's not easy to recruit experienced people. The hiring of inexperienced people involves the cost of developing them, so we are looking for STEM students with a high level of expertise. I was very pleased to be able to talk to STEM students through this event."

Yoshinori Takeuchi from Nihon Michelin Tire Co., Ltd., a company headquartered in Ota City, Gunma Prefecture, seeks to strengthen their new graduate recruitment for research and development positions and wants globally-minded graduates.

"Our Japanese subsidiary mainly hires for research and development positions," he says, "and I'm glad that many students became interested through this event. In addition, since we have bases in various overseas countries, I think we match up with globally-minded talent, such as students with overseas study experience and those from overseas."

UL Japan, Inc. is a Japanese subsidiary of UL Solutions, a US-based company, and is headquartered in Ise City, Mie Prefecture. A representative participant from the company says that they are focusing on hiring Japanese students and local human resources.

"Since most of our customers are globally-operating Japanese manufacturers, Japanese and English language skills are required. So, we'd like to recruit not only foreign nationals, but also Japanese students interested in global business."

This event was held jointly by JETRO, which supports foreign-affiliated companies with difficulty in recruiting talent in the Japanese market, and the Institute of Science Tokyo. Akira Izumi, Specially Appointed Professor at the Entrepreneurship Education Organization of the Institute of Science Tokyo, talks about career choices for students:

"I'd like students to think about their career options from a wide range of perspectives without necessarily being restricted to their specialized fields. In particular, as foreign-affiliated companies are different from Japanese companies in management and corporate cultures, it would be important for students to take into account foreign-affiliated companies in their job-hunting activities, which would help them think about their careers from a broad perspective."

JETRO supports foreign-affiliated companies by means such as holding events to address the difficulty of recruiting talent in the Japanese market. Please contact JETRO if you are a foreign-affiliated company needing support on human resources or with difficulty entering or expanding in Japan.