TOKYO —
Japan’s major corporations are increasingly moving to employ foreign nationals on permanent contracts, judging that the benefits of diversification are worth the challenges.
Convenience store operator Lawson is among them, awarding between 10 and 30 percent of its graduate positions to foreign nationals over the past several years.
At several major manufacturers including Fujitsu and Hitachi, foreign nationals make up around 10% of the new graduates scheduled to start work in the business year beginning next April.
Looking beyond Japanese nationals for new hires has until recently been the preserve of small and medium enterprises struggling amid a labor shortage.
But major manufacturers too now find themselves seeking to diversify their workforce, citing the need to better manage expansions overseas or take advantage of Japan’s foreign tourism boom.
Potential employees from other countries may be put off by some elements of Japanese employment practices, which have evolved with a fully Japanese workforce in mind.
To combat this, companies are looking at ways to strengthen their benefit packages and job training, as well as at changes to their employment and wage schemes.
Lawson, which is hoping to expand in overseas markets, included 16 foreign nationals in the annual intake of permanent employees that started work last month, and 28 in the intake that joined the company in April last year. It plans to grow that number in the 2017 intake.
Of Fujitsu’s 500 graduate hires in the 2017 intake, around 50 are foreign nationals, as are roughly 10% of the 110-strong cohort at JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp.
Cosmetics maker Shiseido Co included a record eight foreign employees in its 2016 intake, and intends to employ more next year.
In a recent employment survey of major corporations conducted by Kyodo News, 13 of the 28 respondents said they plan to increase their number of foreign employees in the future.
Companies with such plans were spread across a wide range of industries, from industrial chemicals to retail and insurance.
Many of the non-Japanese employees are hired after completing exchanges at Japanese universities, where local students typically begin the job-hunting process in their penultimate year of study.
While Lawson said its hiring process is the same regardless of nationality, other companies including Hitachi hold special job seminars overseas to woo foreign talent.
Fujitsu directly approaches students majoring in science and engineering at overseas universities, as well as offering internships to foreign students living in Japan.
Respondents to the survey acknowledged particular challenges in hiring foreign nationals, including managing differing career expectations and having to sponsor employees’ visas.
One company said it is translating workplace signage and carrying out morning meetings in English to help the new employees settle in.
According to the labor ministry, about 910,000 foreign nationals were employed in Japan as of last October, up around 15% from the year prior. The figure includes those in casual or part-time work.
Japan’s major corporations are increasingly moving to employ foreign nationals on permanent contracts, judging that the benefits of diversification are worth the challenges.
Convenience store operator Lawson is among them, awarding between 10 and 30 percent of its graduate positions to foreign nationals over the past several years.
At several major manufacturers including Fujitsu and Hitachi, foreign nationals make up around 10% of the new graduates scheduled to start work in the business year beginning next April.
Looking beyond Japanese nationals for new hires has until recently been the preserve of small and medium enterprises struggling amid a labor shortage.
But major manufacturers too now find themselves seeking to diversify their workforce, citing the need to better manage expansions overseas or take advantage of Japan’s foreign tourism boom.
Potential employees from other countries may be put off by some elements of Japanese employment practices, which have evolved with a fully Japanese workforce in mind.
To combat this, companies are looking at ways to strengthen their benefit packages and job training, as well as at changes to their employment and wage schemes.
Lawson, which is hoping to expand in overseas markets, included 16 foreign nationals in the annual intake of permanent employees that started work last month, and 28 in the intake that joined the company in April last year. It plans to grow that number in the 2017 intake.
Of Fujitsu’s 500 graduate hires in the 2017 intake, around 50 are foreign nationals, as are roughly 10% of the 110-strong cohort at JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp.
Cosmetics maker Shiseido Co included a record eight foreign employees in its 2016 intake, and intends to employ more next year.
In a recent employment survey of major corporations conducted by Kyodo News, 13 of the 28 respondents said they plan to increase their number of foreign employees in the future.
Companies with such plans were spread across a wide range of industries, from industrial chemicals to retail and insurance.
Many of the non-Japanese employees are hired after completing exchanges at Japanese universities, where local students typically begin the job-hunting process in their penultimate year of study.
While Lawson said its hiring process is the same regardless of nationality, other companies including Hitachi hold special job seminars overseas to woo foreign talent.
Fujitsu directly approaches students majoring in science and engineering at overseas universities, as well as offering internships to foreign students living in Japan.
Respondents to the survey acknowledged particular challenges in hiring foreign nationals, including managing differing career expectations and having to sponsor employees’ visas.
One company said it is translating workplace signage and carrying out morning meetings in English to help the new employees settle in.
According to the labor ministry, about 910,000 foreign nationals were employed in Japan as of last October, up around 15% from the year prior. The figure includes those in casual or part-time work.
