Tokyo, Feb 6, 2013 - (ACN Newswire) - About half of the employers in Japan gave a salary increase of less than 3 per cent last year and candidates can expect more of the same this year, according to the Hays Asia Salary Guide.

The 2013 Hays Asia Salary Guide, out now, reveals salary and recruiting trends for 1,200 roles across Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan and was based on a survey of 1,200 employers, as well as placements made by Hays.

According to the Hays Asia Salary Guide, 47 per cent of employers gave a salary increase of less than 3 per cent and 28 opted not to give an increase at all. 16 per cent increased salaries between 3 and 6 per cent and 4 per cent gave increases of 6 to 10 per cent. Five per cent raised salaries by 10 per cent.

Looking ahead, 59 per cent intend to give increases of less than 3 per cent, while 20 per cent of employers are expecting 3 to 6 per cent salary increases. 4 per cent will give a pay rise of more than 6 per cent and 2 per cent will consider a raise of more than 10 per cent when they next review. 15 per cent expect to give no increase at all.

"However, the Salary Guide reveals 91 per cent of employers in Asia expect to award a bonus this year - that's up on last year's figure of 87 per cent, which could be why we are seeing a trend of low salary increases in Japan," says Jonathan Sampson, Regional Director of Hays in Japan.

"Benefits are also being offered by 79 per cent of employers with the most popular benefits in Japan being life assurance offered (by 44 per cent of employers), club/gym membership (30 per cent), pension (28 per cent) and tax equalisation (16 per cent).

"Interestingly in Japan, unlike other countries surveyed it is Life Assurance that again tops the list of benefits paid by employers albeit by a smaller margin than last year."

Meanwhile, almost three quarters of employers across Asia, or 72 per cent, believe the economy is likely to remain stable or strengthen. 65 per cent of employers in Asia also say their business activity increased in the past 12 months and 66 per cent envisage it will increase in the next year.

"This is expected to put greater pressure, on not only sourcing the right skills to manage increased business but also potentially the package on offer to prospective employees," says Jonathan Sampson, Regional Director of Hays in Japan. "Our salary survey revealed 93 per cent of employers believe skills shortages will hamper their business operations."

"Also we have seen that more than half of employers (52 per cent) tell us they have used a flexible approach to staffing over the past year, either temporary or contract employees or the employment of part-time staff - in fact almost a quarter (24 per cent) of respondents say they use temporary or contract staff on an ongoing basis."

According to the 2013 Hays Asia Salary Guide, trends at a glance for Japan by sector are as follows:

-- Accountancy & Finance:
In 2012 activity in Japan's accountancy and finance jobs market not only returned to pre-global financial crisis levels, but it was once again characterised by candidate shortages.

-- Banking:
Japan's banking sector has been dominated by a focus on cost cutting. This has impacted vacancy activity in three significant ways. Firstly, it has seen employers focus on hiring replacements in order to maintain rather than add to their headcount. Secondly, employers are exhausting all internal staffing options, both local and overseas, before considering external candidates. And thirdly, when they do hire externally the interview process has lengthened as employers do all they can to ensure they recruit the most suitable candidate.

-- Finance Technology:
Japan's finance technology market saw steady levels of vacancy activity throughout 2012. The investment banks and IT vendors were both recruiting, and this is not expected to change.

-- Human Resources:
Salaries remained stable year-on-year, although some highly-qualified candidates are receiving salary increases in the double digits. Candidates who have been unemployed for a long time, however, have decreased their salary expectations.

-- Information Technology:
Following the trend of 2012, 2013 is expected to be a strong year in the areas of cloud computing and IT business consulting. The former is a result of infrastructure vendors looking to manage shrinkage in traditional markets by diversifying into related and emerging technologies. The latter is driven by general enterprise looking to rationalise business practise and achieve cost savings by enhancing their IT systems.

-- Insurance:
Most foreign companies in Japan's insurance industry are recruiting junior candidates, such as Salespeople and Claims Adjusters, to maintain their age balance. As a result, demand is high for candidates with a few years of industry experience, especially those with relevant financial sales or claims adjustment experience.

-- Legal:
Japan's in-house counsel market is increasing its emphasis on compliance as changes in the regulatory environment, especially in pharma, banking and financial services, require a greater separation of powers between legal and compliance.

-- Life Sciences:
Regulatory changes have seen Japan's sales style shift over recent years from relationship based towards one that is more technically driven. As a result, we are seeing a continuous need for Application Specialists, Medical Science Liaisons or Clinical/KOL Education Specialists.

-- Office Professionals:
The demand for bilingual support staff has increased in Japan over the past year as local companies continue to globalise and recruit support staff who can communicate with overseas offices.

-- Property:
We expect to see good activity in Japan's property market in 2013. This will be driven by growth in the pharma and medical devices industries, with retail and insurance businesses also expected to continue to recruit property professionals.

-- Sales & Marketing:
Demand for sales and marketing professionals remains high within many industries. Looking firstly at the IT industry, many non-Japanese companies continue to increase their direct sales and high touch workforce and are moving away from a channel sales reliant model to maximise profits and improve aftercare and service add-on revenues.

-- Supply Chain:
Demand for supply chain and procurement professionals has remained high in Japan over the past year, and this trend will continue for the remainder of 2013 since many companies are driving global structure change.

Access the 2013 Hays Asia Salary Guide at www.hays.co.jp/en/salary-guide , by contacting your local Hays office or by downloading The Hays Asia Salary Guide 2013 iPhone app from iTunes.

Hays, the world's leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.

About Hays

Hays is the leading global specialist recruiting group. It is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide.

Hays Specialist Recruitment Japan KK ("Hays") is the largest foreign recruitment company in Japan and operates across the private sector, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. Hays has been in Japan for more than a decade, and boasts a track record of success and growth.

Hays is the only foreign recruitment company in Japan to operate specialist business units composed of professionals with experience and expertise in the sectors they cover. Hays Japan's thirteen specialisms span Accountancy & Finance, Banking, Finance Technology, Human Resources, Hays Resource Management, Information Technology, Insurance, Legal, Life Sciences, Office Professionals, Property, Sales & Marketing and Supply Chain.

Hays is also the only foreign recruitment company in Japan to operate three local offices, serving the Kanto region from Akasaka and Shinjuku, and Kansai from central Osaka.

Hays Japan is the local representative office for Hays plc, which is a global company with more than 7,800 staff operating from 245 offices across 33 countries.

Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA.

Source: Hays

Contact:

Keiko Asakura
Hays Japan
Marketing Manager
+81 3 3560 2813
Keiko.Asakura@hays.co.jp

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