Rush to hire foreigners

The traditional practice of Japanese companies sending staff for overseas positions is facing a major turning point. According to Japan Times, plans to increase the recruitment in major Japanese corporations of foreigners mainly from China, Malaysia and Taiwan, is seen as a strategic move for Japan to bolster their international competitiveness.

Some of the corporations rushing to hire more Asians include Lawson Inc, Fast Retailing Co (operator of Uniqlo) and Rakuten Inc. A boost of foreign nationals by up to 50 percent next year is quite surprising. Lawson Inc, a major convenience store chain, for example aims to recruit foreign graduates from Japanese universities. In 2008, Lawson hired 10 non-Japanese staff members where they were “striving to change the mindset of employees and imbue them with a sense of internationalism”. This will continue to go ahead with the intention of further expanding stores in Asia. What remains questionable is whether these entry-level jobs in Japan really require a degree. It may even sound like a cheap way of expanding Japanese chain stores in Asia by employing foreigners to build a “flexible organisation”.

Rakuten, Japan’s largest online shopping mall, announced earlier this year plans to expand by having a joint venture with China’s popular search engine Baidu Inc. There is potential of attracting more customers in Asian countries to a ‘B2B2C’ (business to business and business to consumer) marketplace. This joint venture will start later this year and aims to provide merchandise to consumers at competitive prices. Rakuten will also boost foreign recruits, specifically Chinese, as a strategy to provide services meeting Chinese needs.