Japanese IT companies on overdrive to recruit Indians

Faced with the shortage of human resources in the IT industry, Japanese Corporations are planning to recruit Indian professionals by offering salary equivalent to Japanese market standards.

Chennai-based ECHC Management Services, an executive search firm and International Recruitment Japan (IRJ) Inc, a Japanese talent search firm, have signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) to recruit Indian talent for the Japanese corporations.

The tie-up would facilitate hiring local talent at the entry, middle and senior management levels in start-up, mid-sized and large corporations, including the multinationals in Japan.

"Japan is no longer a closed society. It has been opening up culturally and economically with the outside world," said Hitoshi Kitazawa, president, IRJ Inc.

He said there would be an acute shortage of talent in Japan in the near future owing to low birth rate and ageing population.

"Japan is entering the era of talent migration. Impressed with the quality of the talent pool in India and the country's dominant position in the global IT industry, Japanese Corporations have been keen on employing Indian IT professionals by providing salary packages equivalent to the packages offered to Japanese professionals," said K V Ramesh, chairman and managing director, ECHC. Referring to salary packages for entry, middle and senior level positions, he said remuneration would be offered in the range between $35,000 and $150,000 per annum.

Presently, there are only 2000 Indian engineers in Japan and most of them work for onsite jobs of Indian or multinational corporations.

Kitazawa said there were only 1.25 people for two jobs in Japan and the country would have to hire about 10,000 engineers from other countries every year in the IT sector alone. As part of the MoU, ECHC will be submitting its application to IITs for campus hiring and is also in the process of identifying a few engineering colleges. Over the next one year, it plans to hire 20-25 engineers. The number will be small initially since we want to build a 'success story' in this process before going in for big number, said Ramesh.

The demand for Indian professionals is not limited to the IT sector alone.

Japan also offers opportunities in biotech, pharma and logistics, said Kitazawa. While the career opportunities in Japan for Indian professionals are immense, language has been a serious barrier. Knowledge of the Japanese language, culture and business etiquette are reported to be critical to being able to live and work successfully in Japan.

To facilitate easier learning of the Japanese language, Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), the nodal agency that advises about investments in Japan, conducts Japanese language proficiency tests for aspirants to Japan twice a year.