The reasons why Japanese companies hesitate to hire in India and methods to overcome those barriers.
While many Japanese companies understand the appeal of hiring from India, when it comes to implementation, they often hesitate due to concerns about systems, culture, and risks. This article will clarify the nature of these concerns and provide solutions.
Contents
The lack of information is the "first barrier."
Information about recruitment in India is overwhelmingly less than that for Western recruitment and domestic recruitment, leading to a lack of sufficient decision-making materials for the person in charge. In particular, the fact that information on university level, student demographics, and market rates is not systematically organized is delaying the decision-making process.
To accurately understand the local talent market, it is necessary to grasp multifaceted information, not only university rankings but also
industry clusters in each region, students' career aspirations, and strengths by department
Gathering this information without external partners is realistically burdensome.
The hurdles related to VISA and employment types often seem high from a systemic perspective.
Many companies hesitant to hire in India feel uneasy about the complexities of VISAs and employment types. In particular:
Educational requirements for the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services Visa
Salary standards
Treatment of Japanese language proficiency
Understanding of the lead time from job offer to joining
is necessary in terms of the system.
However, many companies are actually responding with a standardized flow.
Document preparation → Cooperation with Japanese language schools → Training for job offer recipients → VISA application → Travel
The flow is established, and by collaborating with experts, the burden can be significantly reduced.
The "cultural gap" makes the operation after hiring feel uneasy.
What recruiters are most concerned about is Japanese language proficiency and cultural adaptability.
“Can Indians adapt to the working style of Japanese companies?”
“Is there a problem with communication?”
These questions are often asked, but in reality,
the increase in Japanese learners, interest in Japanese culture, and the presence of people with experience working for Japanese companies
are creating an increasingly fitting environment.
Additionally, the common point of companies that are successfully utilizing this is the onboarding before assignment, which includes
Training in cultural understanding
One-on-one meetings
Japanese language support
to incorporate. This significantly reduces the risk of early turnover.
I don't know how to evaluate the quality of local students.
"Are they really excellent?"
"What criteria should we use to choose?"
Many companies struggle to move forward without understanding this, leading them to often judge solely based on the university name.
In reality, there are more important factors than university name when evaluating Indian students.
Some typical examples include
GitHub commit history
Hackathon performance
Internship experience
Technical blogs and outputs
Continuity in learning Japanese
These are effective indicators to measure practical skills, perseverance, and proactivity, and many successful hiring companies emphasize them.
If we set the right criteria, we can select local students from a perspective that fits Japanese companies.
The key to overcoming walls is the use of "collaborative local partners."
Hiring in India puts a heavy burden on "starting from scratch by yourself," and increases the risk of failure.
What successful companies commonly utilize is a locally knowledgeable partner.
Effective support includes
University selection navigation
Extraction of students who have learned Japanese
Technical screening
Communication assistance with candidates
Pre-employment onboarding support
This greatly reduces friction before and after hiring.
In particular, partners with collaboration with schools and schemes to nurture students over the long term can stably supply the most fitting layer for Japanese companies.
Summary
Behind the inability of Japanese companies to adopt hiring in India are structural reasons such as a lack of information, anxiety about the system, cultural gaps, and unclear evaluation criteria. However, with the right knowledge and appropriate support, all of these barriers can be overcome, and many companies have already built successful case studies.
At Phinx, we utilize a network of Japanese learners centered in South India, collaborative programs with universities, and local screening to carefully select and introduce students that meet the specific requirements of each company. We provide a setup that allows companies considering hiring in India for the first time to proceed with confidence.
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