Skill Shortage impacts Technology Growth in Japan
Azure, Data and Python talent in demand
New research conducted by global talent services company Morgan McKinley as part of its 2024 Salary Guide has revealed that 76% of technology hiring managers found recruitment ‘very’ or ‘quite’ competitive in 2023 in Japan.
The Guide identified key challenges for 2024, with 25% of hiring managers citing shortage of skilled candidates as their primary obstacle. Other challenges included difficulties in competing on pay and benefits (22%) and a lack of approval for new headcount (19%).
Despite the challenging market, things are looking brighter in 2024 with half of technology hiring managers revealing that they are increasing headcount in the first half of the year and 46% of technology workers are looking for new roles in that same period, with a further 31% considering a move.
When looking to move roles, technology workers value a higher salary (40%) the most, followed by career growth and development opportunities (14%), and ability to work fully remote (13%).
Flexibility continues to be important in the technology industry, with work from home and flexible working hours placing first and third respectively in Tech professionals’ top five valued benefits - alongside bonus (second), health insurance (fourth) and pension (fifth). Technology had the greatest proportion of people who placed 'work from home' as one of their most valued benefits out of all 10 specialisations surveyed (71% of technology professionals picked it in their top five).
42% of technology professionals would prefer to be in the office 1-2 days a week, whilst only 8% want to be on-site 5 days a week. Over half (53%) would skip a pay rise if it meant they got the flexibility they desire. 69% of employers expect their salary offers to increase for certain hard-to-fill roles across technology, and a further 20% plan to increase salary offers for all Tech teams.
Lionel Kaidatzis, Managing Director of Morgan McKinley Japan, commented:
“The technology talent landscape in Japan was highly competitive throughout 2023, making it difficult for businesses to find skilled professionals. With less headcount, companies have raised the bar on the quality of the talent they want to hire, which has made the hiring of top talent even more competitive given the ongoing shortage of talent. With skilled professionals receiving multiple offers, employers have had to shorten their time to release offers in an effort to entice top candidates. Even a few days of delay could be the difference between hiring talent and losing out to competitors.”
“Despite a concerted effort to drive the digital transformation agenda forward, Japan still ranks low compared to ‘competitor’ countries in digital competitiveness due to a shortage of software engineers. Organisations can improve the choice of skills available and gain access to experience with cutting-edge technologies if they look at non-Japanese speaking overseas-based professionals.”
Key jobs and skills in demand for 2024 in Japan across areas of Technology:
| Jobs in demand | Skills in demand |
Development & Testing | |
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Infrastructure | |
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Cyber Security | |
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Analytics | |
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The Morgan McKinley 2024 Salary Guide presents up-to-date and accurate salary data for a wide range of Technology roles across Japan, providing hiring managers with industry benchmarks when they are working out what to pay employees and giving professionals more visibility over what they can earn.
Research from 650 businesses and 3,400 professionals was conducted to find out what companies’ hiring intentions are for 2024, what the key motivators are for changing jobs, and what the expectations are for movement on salaries.
For the Morgan McKinley Japan 2024 Salary Guide, visit:
https://www.morganmckinley.com/jp/salary-guide
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About Morgan McKinley
Morgan McKinley is a global talent services expert, offering the full spectrum of solutions to meet employers’ and jobseekers’ needs. With 19 offices in 10 countries and nearly 1000 employees, it provides 3 distinct solutions for customers. Morgan McKinley Recruitment Solutions encompassing deep expertise across 10 professional disciplines offering temporary, contract and permanent recruitment; Morgan McKinley Executive Search for targeted C-Suite talent searches; and Morgan McKinley Talent Solutions including RPO, MSP, Project Recruitment and more.
Morgan McKinley is part of Org, a more human kind of professional services company that harnesses the power of talent to bring better business outcomes for clients across the world through advisory, managed services and talent services.
