Japan Employs Foreign Blockchain Specialists due to the Lack of Human Resources

Japan employs foreign blockchain engineers as well as other information technology (IT) specialists due to the lack of internal human resources.

Due to the lockdown caused by the Coronavirus pandemic and massive digitization, the industry has seen significant growth and therefore, the demand for intellectual workers has grown. 

In the past few years, Japan registered a massive dearth of IT human resources and this shortfall is more likely to increase further to about 800k people in the next decade (2030). As the whole world is turning to innovation and tech, it is very important for Japan to also allure, employ and even keep brilliant foreign IT human resources, for this will help it revive its economy and lift its competitiveness further.

Japan’s DLT and cryptocurrency sector has grown significantly

Japan has been boosting its intellectual potential by growing various fields of digital technology including blockchain. In fact, the lockdown has even promoted its growth over 2020. As per the Monex Crypto Bank, a giant cryptocurrency and DLT company, Japan’s DLT industry has grown by more than 30 percent since last year (2019). Of the companies, 64% are “primarily" involved in DLT and cryptocurrency businesses and 36% of them are participating “non-primarily." 

In the past, the country was one of the first nations to define virtual currency as a legal means of payment and in 2016. The financial authorities started regulating digital currency exchanges with know-your-customer (KYC) measures. Albeit, following the 2018 attack on Coincheck (lost over $530 million worth of cryptocurrency) and Mt. Gox (lost over $460 million in Feb 2014) the country’s leading digital currency exchanges, the country started shifting to a more conservative policy aiming at protecting consumers and prevent money laundering as well as terrorism funding (AML/CFT).

Japan is among the few nations in the world (at the forefront in Asia) that has managed to create and implement an effective and friendly regulatory framework for the blockchain sector, and this has initiated a rapid and significant boom of the industry. As of May 2020, there were more than 430 registered blockchain firms (of which 193 firms are large corporations) in the country – a 30.7% increase from 329 firms in July 2019. 

A Blockchain project for both employers and employees

Since recruiters need to securely access the capabilities of applicants putting into consideration the current situation in the job market caused by Covid-19, job seekers are forced to remotely and electronically validate their skills, accomplishments and experience since they can’t now be measured via normal interviews and curriculum vitae (CV). At the same time, applicants have to securely control and manage their sensitive and highly reliable personal info. That’s why IT developers need to be recruited so they can digitally help employers take a test to authenticate job seekers’ skills in advance.

About 6 Japanese companies including PERSOL CAREER, GMO Internet, NEC Corporation, Wired Beans, etc., are exploring an effective direct recruiting initiative which is based on blockchain and DLT. The major purpose of the proof-of-concept (PoC) solution is to optimize recruiting services for Japan-based firms that want to hire international DLT and IT specialists.

The PoC project will benefit both the employers and employees in a sense that the project will help to evaluate the needs of foreign job seekers, disentangle the admission process for recruiters, and verify the competence of the programming achievement, skill and experience check.