To further understand employers as well as the hiring trends across Asia and Japan, we’ve compiled salary benchmarks, traits employers look for in talent (both hard skill and soft skills) as well as hot jobs in various actively hiring industries.

All the data found below is based on RGF-owned data collected through RGF Salary Watch and Talent in Asia. RGF’s Salary Watch: Japan report has been conducted with the aim of better understanding the salary trends and data across all industries and job levels in Japan. This report is based on an RGF-owned candidate pool covering more than 400,000 candidates (collected from February 2019 to February 2020) in our Japan database.

Talent in Asia is a comprehensive analysis of broad industry and country hiring trends across 11 countries and markets in Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Mainland China, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The report is based on RGF-owned data compiled via a targeted survey completed in March 2020, which gathered responses from more than 4,600 employers and candidates across all markets and 10 industry sectors.

Most Active Industries, Hot Jobs, and Salary Trends

Expected Salary Increase in Asia and Japan:

Average Salary Increment Offered to Employees in Asia: 10%

Average Salary Increase Provided to Employees in Japan: 11%

Sectors Most Actively Hiring in Asia:

1. Smart Manufacturing
2. Digital Technology
3. E-commerce
4. Financial Services
5. Medical R&D

Areas Most Actively Hiring in Japan and Salary Benchmarks:

• Hot jobs in the Industrial Sector

• Application Engineering (Manager = US $56,000 – 112,000)
• Project Management (Director = US $112,000 – 140,000)
• Sales & Marketing (Business Development Manager = US $ 56,000 – 140,000)
• Senior Management

• Hot jobs in the Financial Services Sector

• Audit & Compliance
• Investment Banking (Associate = US $65,000 – 140,000)
• Private Equity
• Project Finance (VP = US $93,000 131,000
• Real Estate Asset Management
• Relationship Management (Managing Director = US $121,000 – 260,000)
• Risk Management 

• Hot jobs in the Technology, Internet & Telecommunications Sector

• AI & Data Science (Manager = US $75,000 – 112,000)
• Cloud Security & Infrastructure (Senior Manager = US $131,000 – 187,000)
• Consulting Implementation & Management
• Digital Marketing
• Digital Transformation
• Enterprise Software
• Financial Services IT
• IT Consulting  (Director = US $150,000 – 187,000)
• Project Management
• Sales

• Hot jobs in the Consumer Goods & Retail Sector

• Business Strategy & Commercial (Manager = US $65,000 – 140,000)
• CRM
• Digital Marketing
• E-commerce (Director = US $112,000 - 196,000)
• Marketing & Branding
• Sales & Business Development
• Supply Chain & Procurement
• Trade Marketing (Manager = US $93,000 – 131,000)

• Hot jobs in the Health & Life Science Sector

• Clinical Development (Manager = US $93,000 – 187,000)
• Healthcare Service & Management
• Hospital Management
• Medical (Doctor = US $140,000 – 262,000)
• Regulatory Affairs (Director = US$112,000 – 187,000)
• Sales & Marketing

• Hot jobs in the Corporate Services Sector

• Finance & Accounting
• HR
• Legal & Compliance
• Supply Chain

• Hot jobs in the Media, Advertising & Entertainment Sector

• Account Management
• Creativity & Content
• CRM
• Digital Marketing
• Media Planning

To see the full list of salaries, click here.

Hiring trends across Asia and Japan

To further understand employers as well as the hiring trends across Asia and Japan, we’ve compiled this list:

The 5 Traits Employers are Looking for in Talent across Asia are:

1. Relevant knowledge and experience
2. Culture fit
3. Adaptability
4. Commitment
5. Agility

While the key qualities companies in Japan are looking for in local talent are:

Most Sought After Hard Skills in Japan

Among all the surveyed employers,

75% of companies in Japan answered industry knowledge and experience

68% of companies in Japan answered functional mastery and expertise

65% of companies in Japan answered proficiency in a foreign language

26% of companies in Japan answered technical skills

23% of companies in Japan answered professional certifications and licenses

10% of companies in Japan answered educational background

Most In-demand Soft Skills in Japan

Among all the surveyed employers, these were the answers:

34% communication and presentation

27%  task-focused

27% good team player

25% problem-solving

24% adaptable and flexible

21% innovation and creativity

19% accountability and responsibility

Hiring Challenges Faced by Companies in Japan

Heading into 2020, 76% of surveyed employers in Japan have agreed that they are facing a talent shortage with 60% attributing it to the lack of candidates with necessary work experience, skills, and knowledge, 51% to increasing competition from other employers, and 36% to insufficient benefits to attract talent.

Employers in Japan have also agreed that other hiring challenges include a long internal approval process at 49%, a lack of budget for hiring at 29%, and implementing fair recruitment processes at 28%.

In order to address these hiring challenges, the surveyed companies have resorted to the following hiring solutions in Japan:

58% of companies in Japan partner with search firms or recruitment agencies

53% of companies in Japan leverage internal referrals

40% of companies in Japan promote internally or develop internal talent

38% of companies in Japan develop strong employer branding

18% of companies in Japan use professional networking sites

13% of companies in Japan leverage job boards

13% of companies in Japan take advantage of international transfers

RGF’s Salary Watch: Japan report has been conducted with the aim of better understanding the salary trends and data across all industries and job levels in Japan. This report is based on an RGF-owned candidate pool covering more than 400,000 candidates (collected from February 2019 to February 2020) in our Japan database. The definition of annual basic salary used throughout this report does not include allowance, stock, bonus or any other additional benefits, and the salary exchange rate used is USD1 = JPY107. Due to the real-time nature of some of this data, RGF encourages readers to use its insights at their discretion.

To see the full salary report, click here.

Talent in Asia is a comprehensive analysis of broad industry and country hiring trends across 11 countries and markets in Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Mainland China, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The report is based on RGF-owned data compiled via a targeted survey completed in March 2020, which gathered responses from more than 4,600 employers and candidates across all markets and 10 industry sectors.

To see the full report about the talent landscape in Asia and Japan, click here.