What is temporary/haken work?

The Japan Staffing Services Association defines temporary work as follows:

General Temporary Staffing: An employment contract is established when the client company is
decided and the work begins, and the contract ends at the end of the agreed-upon contract period.

Introductory Temporary Staffing: An employment contract is concluded when the client company is decided and the work begins. If the client company and the dispatched employee agree, the dispatched employee may be hired as a regular or contract employee directly by the client company.

In terms of indefinite temporary staffing, if a temporary employment contract is renewed multiple times by the same staffing agency resulting in a total employment period of more than five years, the temporary worker can request to have their employment contract converted to a full-time contract with no fixed term.

What is RPO?

RPO professionals work with clients as talent acquisition consultants to support their recruitment activities. RPO professionals are full-time employees of their RPO firm whereas temporary workers only have short, fixed-term employment contracts with their staffing agency and client.

Conclusion: RPO is not temporary/haken work

When working as a dispatched recruiter, recruitment support offered is only temporary and there is little opportunity to increase recruitment skills. In contrast, RPO consultants are specialists in recruiting who create and implement strategies that focus on delivering long-term results for clients. RPO consultants form strong partnerships with clients and obtain additional recruitment skills in a short period of time by consulting for numerous client organizations.

Being an RPO consultant is fundamentally different from being a dispatched/temporary recruiter. For those who are serious about making meaningful advances in their talent acquisition career, becoming an RPO consultant is definitely an option that should be considered.