REPORT ON RECRUITMENT DEMANDS FOR SENIOR MANAGEMENT LEVEL OF JAPANESE ENTERPRISE IN VIETNAM – QUARTER 1/2019

Manufacturing sector leads the recruitment demand among Japanese enterprises in Vietnam

According to Japan Desk’s recruitment, in Q1/2019, Japanese enterprises have high demand for recruiting middle and high-level personnel in many sectors, such as Manufacturing, IT, Consumer Goods, Retail, Transportation, Engineering, Finance and banking. Most notably is the Manufacturing sector, which accounted for more than 50% of the recruitment demand. The emergence of new industrial parks exclusively for Japanese enterprises such as Supporting Industrial Park Dong Van 3 (Ha Nam province) and Thang Long 3 Industrial Park (Vinh Phuc province) has led to an increase in hiring demand for key positions in the factory such as Factory Manager or HR Director to prepare from the first step such as build factory and mass recruit employee to put the plant into operation.

Japanese Retail companies have strong recruitment demand

In the quarter 1/2019 and in the coming time, large enterprises in the Japanese retail sector in the fields of fashion, household goods, cosmetics … will strongly expand or officially invest in Vietnam. According to Vietnamese candidates, Japanese corporates in this field have strengths in training employees, professional management process, dedicated customer service style,… Therefore, these retail businesses have great attraction for Vietnamese candidates. However, the recruitment requirements of these businesses are quite strict, including excellent English proficiency, good communication skill and a deep understanding of the company’s business and culture, which many of Vietnamese young candidates have not meet yet. Besides, changing too many jobs is also a disadvantage for candidates who want to apply to these corporations.

Candidates proficient in Japanese, English and have clear career-oriented are preferred

About 5 years ago, a fresh graduate with a certificate of N2 in Japanese could easily find a job in Manufacturing. However today, this is no longer appropriate when the competition among job seekers in Japanese enterprises is increasing. Japanese businesses now prioritize the recruitment of fresh graduate majoring in the Japanese language as well as possess clear orientation and career path. For multinational companies, knowing English is also an advantage. However, for small and medium Japanese enterprises, Vietnamese candidates must be good at Japanese. In addition, the expansion of Japanese businesses into Vietnam from the Chinese market leads to the new requirement for Vietnamese candidates: know Chinese to be able to work with Chinese suppliers.

Non-competitive wages lead to challenges for businesses in attracting talent

According to our observations, Japanese IT enterprises have not attracted Vietnamese IT candidates because the salary is not competitive compared with European or American companies. Besides, the requirement to comply with working time at Japanese companies compared to flexible working time, even working from home of IT companies in Europe and America also makes Japanese enterprises unattractive to candidates. However, Japanese IT enterprises are very suitable for candidates who feel comfortable with regulations, attach importance to stability and long-term commitment.