How to recruit and place candidates with Japanese client/companies in Japan?
Overseas recruitment companies can provide staff for domestic companies in Japan, however, a Japanese recruitment license is legally required to do so. This can take sometime and effort.
In the interim or for short periods SME Japan can assist in the process by working as middle man, thanks to its ownership of both a hakken (outsourcing) license and a recruitment license. These licenses allow overseas recruitment companies to take advantages of the lucrative Japanese market and ensure that it’s in compliance with local regulations.
Possible Rrecruiting / Outsourcing Scenarios in Japan.
- 1. Yurio shokugyou shoukai License (Recruitment License)
- 2. Jinzai Hakken License (Outsourcing license)
- 3. An Overseas Recruiter can set up its own company in Japan
Yurio shokugyou shoukai license (Recruitment Agency)
There are many local and foreign companies in the recruitment business within Japan. With Japan’s declining workforce population and a strong demand for staff recruitment companies (both offline and online) recruiters remain a popular destination choice for employers. Due to this demand, recruiters can charge a premium for their service making this a profitable and lucrative business.
The Yurio Shokugyou shoukai license allows an overseas based recruiter to recruit, advertise and dispatch employees to a Japanese company (client). Utilising our license, the recruitment company works with us to legally place candidates and charge a recruitment fee to the client without having to establish a company in Japan. *A fee is payable for utilising our license in Japan.
Note: The overseas company should be aware of consumption and withholding tax.
Jinzai Hakken Gaisha License (Outsourcing Agency)
Due to Japan’s very protective employee labor laws, “outsourcing staff” (known as “Jinzai Hakken Services” – 人材派遣 in Japanese) is highly utilised by many Japanese companies when recruiting. The companies can use Hakken staff for short or long contract periods and sometimes indefintely. This effectively transfers the employee hiring risk and tax burden to the Hakken company and away from the end company/client. Over the years this has become extremely popular in Japan and often you can find employees that have been Hakken staff for over 10 years.
The Hakken license differs from the Yurio Shokugyou shoukai one as we hire staff internally from the overseas recruiter. After the candidate becomes an employee of our company, they are trained to understand Japanese culture, manners and etiquette before being seconded/outsourced to the Japanese client for contracted period.
We provide after care services to the end client to ensure and guarantee that the onboarding process is smooth and that there are no problem with either the employee or the client.
We charge a monthly service charge to the recruiter.
An Overseas Recruiter can also set up its own company in Japan
As mentioned in our Japan Company Incorporation Guide SME Japan also provides company incorporation services to guide you in starting your own company.
If recruiting and placing candidates either as “hakken staff” or “recruitment staff” becomes an integral and key part for your business then the best option is to establish and run a Japanese company. There are 3 corporate structures in Japan that can be considered.
Once the company has been established and a bank account opened the company can apply for a recruitment or hakken license. Note: This process can take up to 6 months. We can assist you in this process by acting as a temporary director and obtaining the necessary licenses to operate in Japan. Visit our dedicated business guide on Recruitment Business Licenses in Japan for more details on what you may need.