Welcome to Envision’s "Recruitment Skills Forum."

This forum is a place where we will share and discuss recruitment skills.

We will cover topics like careers in recruiting, important skills, and more.

For those who are currently in the talent acquisition field, stay tuned for information on how to advance your career!

#What’s Happening in Recruitment

With the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 came great change that many companies are still dealing with today.

Many have started to appreciate the ability to work remotely and view their newfound work-life balance as a must-have benefit at any future employer. I often consult with people who want to change jobs and approximately 80% of them share that the ability to work remotely is high in their selection criteria.

Employers are beginning to adjust to this new preference and have made remote work a key aspect of their future organizational strategy.

The chart shows strengthening mid-career hiring is also an area of interest.

As such, many companies are shifting to hiring more experienced candidates that can hit the ground running.

One of the keywords heard a lot in the HR industry in Japan is “job-type employment” or ” job-gata.”

“Job-type employment” is a mainstream employment system in Europe and the United States. Employee job responsibilities are clearly defined and individual evaluations are based on performance and results rather than hours worked. Each employee makes use of specific knowledge and specialized skills to drive value for the company. Put simply, a specialized role exists in advance and personnel are assigned to the role based on ability and experience.

In contrast, Japanese companies typically use a system referred to as "membership-type employment” or “membership-gata” where hiring decisions are made based on fit in terms of culture, work ethic, location, hours, etc. Oftentimes, employees are assigned to new departments or divisions within the organization with little input.

In 2019, the #Keidanren and Toyota Motor Corporation's President #Toyoda expressed their views on the lifetime employment system. This sparked serious debate and demonstrated the difficult situation many Japanese corporations are in as a result of the obsolete system.

The talked-about revisions and possible abolishment of the lifetime employment system would result in major changes such as the end of mass new graduate hiring and changes in the seniority system, thus narrowing the gap between full-time and other non-regular employees.

It is known that there will soon be a shift to a "job-type employment" approach in line with new corporate growth strategies being proposed. I believe that the HR industry will undergo even more significant changes in 2022.

#Future of the Recruitment Market

Going forward, companies with evaluate and select new hires based on a “job-type employment” view where tangible skills and track records of excellent result are highly In the past, generalists with experience in a wide range of positions were valued, but now we will see a shift where true specialists will be in high demand.

For many of us, now may be the time to reevaluate our career trajectory.

Many who plan to change jobs may find that they are already behind the curve.

In short, there will be fierce competition for talented specialists as companies make the shift toward “job-type employment.”

To remain competitive in the recruitment market, the recruiter’s position will become even more important. Less experienced recruiters could find the situation difficult.

# Possible Career Paths

The field of human resources in Japan is wide-ranging. Recruitment, labor relations, training, HR strategy, temporary staffing, and RPO are a few areas to consider.

In Europe and the U.S., hiring is a specialized skill and is separate from what is traditionally known as HR.

This is a very interesting way of thinking about HR. RPO is also a very different concept in Japan than in other western countries, and Japan is very unique for many reasons that we would like to discuss another time.

Back to the topic at hand… As I mentioned above, if you consolidate all of your experience in HR together, it is difficult to distinguish whether you are skilled in recruiting or labor relations, and your skills tend to be broad but less specialized.

It may be difficult to become a specialist with only one company's recruiting experience, especially if you want to improve your skills specifically in talent acquisition.

Recruitment methods change according to the various sizes and characteristics of a corporation. Only by experiencing a wide variety of corporate recruitment strategies can you truly provide recruitment consulting.

I believe that for future career survival, it is necessary to find and polish the skills that you want to master, whether it is in recruitment, labor relations, or human resources.

Please let us know your thoughts and comments!

We look forward to discussing talent acquisition careers and options with you.

[Coming Soon]

Stay tuned for the next installment of Envision’s Recruitment Skills Forum.