More firms recruiting foreign graduates

Companies wanting to gain a competitive edge in the global marketplace are looking to hire foreign graduates of Japanese universities, especially those from China.

And students are eager to grab the opportunities, with the number of foreign students after graduation who changed their visa status to work in Japan in 2005 nearly double that of 2002.
Osaka-based electronics titan Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. currently has 120 foreigners on the payroll. But the company plans to hire an additional 100 over a three-year period starting in 2008.

Foreign students from Japanese universities also make up about 10 percent of the entire intake of new hires at the company's overseas subsidiaries in China and elsewhere.

"We can't do without the international viewpoint in order to manufacture and market products that pass muster around the globe," a recruiter for the company said.

Sumitomo Chemical Co., based in Tokyo, began hiring foreign students in 2005, coinciding with expansions of operations in China and South Korea. The company usually hires two foreign students in Japan every year, but plans to take in more in the future.

Sumitomo Chemical's overseas subsidiaries hire around 10 foreign graduates of Japanese universities every year. Hiroshi Niinuma, of the company's human resources department, said: "We are looking for skilled foreign personnel who can handle international projects in Japan; and for our overseas arms, we are seeking personnel who can serve as their liaison with Japanese operations. Foreign students studying in Japan prove a valuable pool of talent."

According to immigration authorities, 5,878 foreign students changed their visa status in 2005 to work in Japan. The figure amounted to 20 percent of all foreign graduates here that year.

Of those graduates, 4,186 were from China and 747 were from South Korea.

Even companies that have no overseas operations are trying to secure foreign students.

Cainz Home, a major home improvement retailer based in Gunma Prefecture, hired 18 employees from China in the last three years and will hire more in spring.

Cainz is looking for staff who can procure goods from China and collaborate with Chinese companies to develop new products.

"(Chinese recruits) are extremely ambitious and tackle brand new projects with a kind of gung-ho spirit," a Cainz human resources officer said.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry conducted a survey this spring asking listed companies about their plans to recruit graduates who can function in the global environment. Of the 289 companies that responded to the questionnaire, about 40 percent said they hoped to hire foreign students who have studied in Japan.

Foreign students studying in Japan are also keen on finding jobs with Japanese companies. In late May, the International Foreign Students Association, a nonprofit organization based in Tokyo, hosted a joint recruiting fair. A 22-year-old fourth-year student studying at Saitama University said she hoped to land a job with a big Japanese firm with a subsidiary in Malaysia so she could return home.

A 28-year-old Chinese student attending university in Tokyo was hoping to land a job with a cosmetics company. "My first choice would be a major company that handles overseas operations," she said. "But when you are a foreign student, it is not that easy to get an official offer--not like my Japanese counterparts."(IHT/Asahi: July 25,2007)
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