Opening up of the country in terms of human resources aiming to establish global human resource markets toward the realization of economic growth

- Further promotion of acquisition and utilization of talented foreign national professionals and students from overseas -

October 5, 2012

Sakie T. Fukushima
Chairman,Committee on Development and Utilization of Human Resources
Keizai Doyukai
(President & Representative Director, G&S Global Advisors Inc.)

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KeizaiDoyukai has been pursuing ways to innovate continuously and compete globally through the promotion of diversity, the development and utilization of global human resources in corporations, and the establishment of the global human resources market. We have recently prepared this report to further promote the acquisition and utilization of talented foreign national professionals and students from overseas who are deemed to be candidates for talented professionals toward the realization of economic growth.

What is aimed at through the acquisition and utilization of talented foreign national professionals and students from overseas

1. To develop talented Japanese professionals in an atmosphere of competitive efforts made to get ahead of other people and drive innovation in the areas of a growth strategy by strategically acquiring talented professionals, including ‘Peak & Deep' talented professionals.
2. To increase the number of talented human resources with global management skills (i.e., global leaders) in Japanese corporations as a result of an increase in the number of students studying abroad in Japan to eventually promote the internal globalization of the Japanese people who work together with them.
3. To promote the acquisition and utilization of foreign national professionals and students from overseas toward the realization of economic growth so that a win-win relationship may be established for foreign national professionals and the Japanese.

Suggestions toward the realization

Toward the acquisition and utilization of talented professionals

<Things to be done by the government>

1. Formulate human capital strategies related to other growth strategies.
2. Examine the system that strengthens cooperation among the ministries and agencies concerned toward the realization of human capital strategies.
3. Specify the areas of human resources that contribute to a growth strategy and work out the competitive preferential treatment for recruitment, including the future revision of the points-based system for highly skilled foreign professionals.
4. Build an infrastructure that will help achieve a society that enables foreign national human resources to find it easy to live, work, and learn.

<Things to be done by corporations>

5. Promote the "visualization" of the personnel system and operation flows and then expedite the reform to a merit- and performance-based evaluation and remuneration system.
6. Fully implement the merit system without distinction of nationality, gender, age, etc., employ and make the best use of foreign national professionals in terms of head office functions and the decision-making board, and put the right persons in the right places in such a manner that is consistent with the stage of globalization.
7. Clearly communicate the outlook for career development to talented foreign national professionals to have them regard their company as the "space for development, " provide them with the multi-ladder career path system, and improve the training system in terms of skills, knowledge, and techniques instead of simply relying on personnel development through OJT.

Toward the acquisition and utilization of students from overseas

<Things to be done by universities and the government>

1. Increase the number of students from overseas by promoting the internationalization of universities and graduate schools and actively making promotional introductions abroad about their universities.
2. Clarify the strengths of their own universities and graduate schools and strategically accept students from overseas.
3. Strengthen support for the life of students from overseas (such as scholarship money, accommodations, and the improvement of Japanese language skills) and job searches (such as education in Japan’s business practices and business Japanese).

<Things to be done by corporations>

4. Step up recruitment of students from overseas by adopting the multi-track recruitment method.

Japanese version

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