Direct recruiting took off in Japan after BizReach launched its membership service for experienced professionals in 2009. The model is simple: candidates post their histories, employers and agencies pay to search the database and send scout messages, and the platform takes a subscription fee, a success fee or both. Domestic platforms dominate for Japanese managers and specialists. LinkedIn is used more by bilingual professionals and by people working for foreign companies, with several million users in Japan.
An employer approaching candidates for its own vacancies is recruiting, not running a placement business, so it needs no licence. The platforms themselves are regulated as recruitment information providers under the Employment Security Act.
The trade-off is effort. Popular candidates receive a steady flow of scout messages from employers and agencies alike, and many ignore all but the most specific. Response rates depend on the message being personal, in the right language, and from someone credible.
What it means for a foreign employer
- Senior bilingual candidates are heavily approached. The strongest profiles on major Japanese platforms can receive 300 to 400 scout messages a month, which is why reply rates are low. Make the subject line specific, test Japanese against English, and keep a respectful cadence: many candidates read without replying, and some answer on the eighth message, years later.
- Pick the platform for the pool. LinkedIn reaches bilingual people at foreign companies. Domestic platforms reach managers at Japanese companies, many of whom are not active on LinkedIn.
- Someone has to own it. Direct recruiting saves fees but needs local recruiter time, Japanese language and an understanding of Japanese CVs.
- Confidential searches do not fit. Scout messages come from your company's name. For a replacement nobody yet knows about, use a channel that does not reveal you.
Sources
- BizReach company materials on the 2009 launch of its service.
- Industry market-size estimates for direct recruiting in Japan, fiscal 2023, as reported by Japanese HR media.
- Employment Security Act, as amended in force October 2022 (recruitment information providers).