A couple of months ago, an HR Manager-client of mine phoned me and asked for advise on how she could make understand her HQ HR counterparts that recruiting in Japan is not as easy in the US or Europe.

Believe it or not, that was not actually the first time (and probably not the last time either!) that I was asked to give advise about recruiting in Japan. Hence, in this Editorial, let me share with you the same thoughts that I shared with my HR Manager-client and hopefully, you will find this useful if and when you are in the same predicament as hers:

1. Acute Supply and Demand Imbalance. As the world's second largest economy, Japan attracts a lot of foreign-affiliated companies to set up their operations here in the hope of benefiting from the country's economic might. However, unlike its Western counterparts, Japan's economic center is heavily concentrated in Tokyo and its 23 wards. As a result, companies inevitably compete for the same hard-to-find, highly qualified, and bi-lingual Japanese talents. Indeed, the so-called "war for talent" is no where more intense than in Japan (or Tokyo for that matter).

2. Loyalty Factor and Risk Averseness. You've read it. Japan is famous for its lifetime employment practice that greatly contributed to decades of industrial peace any country coming out from WWII badly needed. Consequently, Japan produced highly specialized and "loyal" workforce that would "live and die" for their companies even if there are superior opportunities out there waiting to be literally grabbed for good and bi-lingual talents. It is also this paternalistic relationship between employees and employers that promoted the atmosphere of staying within someone's "comfort zones" and further fed the Japanese's natural tendency to become risk-averse. As a result, it takes a lot of effort and time to even make a prospective candidate open up to explore other opportunities and becomes harder when you actually recruit them for the job.

3. Very Passive Candidates. Let's face it. Qualified candidates for open positions a company has are not in the market. You don't normally find them in job boards or employment databases. Simply, they are not looking. Chances are they are either employed and ultra satisfied with their current organizations (i.e., no "push" or "pull" factors to leave their companies) or they are just very "loyal" to their current companies that the mere idea of talking to a recruiter is treated as a sense of betrayal. If ever they do decide to explore external opportunities, they normally use their personal or business connections or in the recent years, their trusted headhunters or recruiters. Hence, in Japan, good recruiting is not just a transaction but a process that starts with building a strong personal relationship between a recruiter and a candidate.

In the next issue, I will share with you the remaining reasons why I think Japan is the most difficult country to recruit talents. Stay tuned. --JK