Posted on 09/08/2001 5:52:22 PM PDT by Lessismore
Japan's dismal economic situation and its worsening jobless rate is proving a godsend to some companies in neighboring countries.
A growing number of East Asian businesses are taking advantage of the economic slump by targeting the Japanese labor market for skilled workers.
Companies in China, Hong Kong and Thailand have been actively recruiting Japanese white-collar workers, hoping to do more business with Japanese companies and affiliates, which have shifted production to those regions.
PaHuma Asia Group is a staffing service company specializing in the introduction of Japanese workers to other Asian nations.
Since July, the company's Tokyo office said it had received numerous inquiries from overseas clients following large-scale layoff announcements by major domestic companies, including Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Toshiba Corp.
According to Tomoko Hata, the marketing director of PaHuma's Tokyo office, when Hitachi Ltd. revealed its plan to cut 14,700 jobs in late August, a Hong Kong employment agency contacted the company looking for workers capable of building markets for computer technology.
``The Hong Kong client said, `You can no longer say you don't have staff to recommend,''' Hata said.
The Hong Kong agency proposed an annual wage of 16 million yen for the post, Hata added.
In July, PaHuma set up a Web site that lets employers and job seekers register applications online.
During the first two months of the home page, 403 job offers were made. In July, 51 of the offers were accepted, a 40 percent increase from the same month the previous year.
Many of the jobs being offered on the Web site are for sales promotions, factory managers and production line administrators, positions suitable for middle-aged Japanese workers often targeted for pay cuts.
Annual salaries for such posts range from 2 million yen to 10 million yen.
Through PaHuma's introduction service, a 56-year-old molding specialist got a job with a joint venture firm, set up by a Japanese company in Shanghai, and was offered 8 million yen a year.
In another case, a 44-year-old electrical engineer, who quit his job at a major electric appliance maker, was hired by a foreign-affiliated company's factory in Hong Kong. He was offered an annual salary of 10 million yen.
Such high wage offers, however, are rare.
Most employers offer between 3.5 million and 4 million yen per year on average, according to PaHuma.
Japanese technology started spreading overseas in the late 1980s, when Japanese semiconductor engineers traveled to the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and Taiwan on weekends to work part-time. They were paid up to 600,000 yen for each weekend shift.
In the 1980s, Pasona Inc., a major temporary staffing company, became a pioneer in placement services for Japanese female office workers in other Asian nations. At the time, many of the jobs were being offered by trading companies and financial institutions.
Since the Asian financial crisis in 1997, however, the situation has changed.
Currently, electronics and electrical appliance manufacturers account for 30 percent of job offers-the largest portion.
While the staffing service may seem beneficial for both sides, many Japanese workers encounter problems working in conditions different from their homeland.
Aside from the language barriers, other Asian economies have different wage systems and welfare programs.
But Hata said the movement toward Japanese workers will lead to the creation of more jobs.
``There are expectations for Japanese people to be key players in Asian business,'' Hata said
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