Language similarities and commercial mindsets are among the reasons almost half of foreign workers are from the mainland
Chinese professionals who can speak Japanese and English in addition to their mother tongue have become increasingly sought after in Japan in recent years, according to headhunters. Statistics released by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare indicated that there were 338,813 foreign workers, excluding Korean or Chinese nationals born in Japan, working in the country as of June.
Of this number, Chinese nationals - those hailing from the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and others of Chinese descent born elsewhere - made up the largest portion, with 44.2 per cent of the total, or 149,876 people.
The skill sets of Chinese white collar executives were in fairly high demand, particularly in technical areas, according to David Leithead, managing director for recruitment firm Michael Page International in Japan - which recruits candidates for multinational corporations in Japan. This is despite low business confidence among domestic and foreign companies in Japan amid political and economic uncertainties. Part of the reason Chinese executives have become so popular is due to the relentless pace of growth in the Chinese economy. Mr Leithead said that Japanese companies with a presence in China, such as suppliers or customers, naturally valued the services of bilingual executives who could bridge the two cultures.
But the lion's share of the demand for Chinese executives was from multinational companies doing business in Japan, according to Mr Leithead. He said that such companies typically sought executives who could deal with the Japanese market because they could speak the language, in addition to being able to report back to the company's regional or global headquarters fluently in English.
Mr Leithead said Chinese candidates, who usually also spoke English, were typically highly sought after for a number of reasons. Firstly, the relative scarcity of native Japanese executives who spoke fluent English meant that any professional with a strong grasp of English and Japanese would be highly valued in most businesses.