The global economic downturn has been strongly felt in Japan, with high profile international consultancies closing and exiting the market.

While fee levels in the specialist recruitment space in Japan tend to be higher than across the rest of the globe, operational running costs are also high, with international firms having to effectively run a bi-lingual office. Combined with the recent strength of the Yen, most international firms have had to cut back this year. However, there are long- to medium-term growth opportunities. The Japanese tradition of a ‘job for life’ is a thing of the past. Japanese firms have been aggressively restructuring with little sensitivity to length of service, creating a broad range of mid-career opportunities as the economy moves into recovery. The ageing population will also create acute skill shortages, meaning firms will have to work far harder to secure high calibre candidates from a shrinking talent pool. Both local and international businesses will need to work hand-in-hand with recruitment consultancies to fill these gaps. The shrinking domestic market will also mean that Japanese firms will need to expand their international business lines, increasing the demand for bi-lingual staff. So international firms with an established presence will have the chance to expand in what is still a broadly untapped but large market for recruitment.