Currently, Japan’s weakness is the lack of manpower. Among these, the shortage of IT engineers who will be the driving force behind Japan’s economic growth is a troubling problem. In Japan, the reality is that the percentage of students studying IT-related STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields is low. India is a country that is attracting attention due to its abundance of IT human resources. Upon gaining independence from Britain, India developed a strategy. Due to financial difficulties, India focused its education on mathematics and English. As a result of aiming to improve math skills, the country has become a country with a wealth of IT human resources. Among these, the excellence of the Indian Institute of Technology, which is considered the pinnacle of science in India, is attracting attention from around the world. Recruitment of highly skilled foreign personnel specializing in IT is expanding worldwide. The eyes of companies around the world are on this university. Many famous companies come to India for the corporate recruitment drive held in December every year.
Along with these large companies, Zenken Co., Ltd. is also continuing its steady activities. Since 2018, Zenken has partnered with 40 engineering universities and established the “Japan Career Center.” Japan Career Center has been focusing on employment support and Japanese language education in Japan. Recently, the number of Indian engineering university students has increased, and the number has exceeded the number of engineers required by IT companies, resulting in an oversupply of students. This has created a situation that even talented engineering students are forced to take jobs they don’t want. At Indian universities, the number of talented students who aspire to work in Japan is increasing every year. Even if India’s engineering personnel are not the high-level personnel aiming to work for major US IT companies, the average science student has extremely high technical skills.
Adarsh (23) grew up at such a university and learned programming. Although wage increases in Japan are slower than in other developed countries, there are still incomes that are higher than in India. Adarsh started working at Kishu Giken Kogyo (Wakayama City) in 2022 as a new employee. In Japan, many companies are suffering from a shortage of IT human resources. The majority of domestic science students choose large companies. The shortage of IT engineers is more serious for local companies and small and medium-sized enterprises. The president of Kishu Giken Kogyo said, “As the number of Japanese applicants is decreasing, he is a valuable highly skilled person.” If there are more people like Adarsh, it will be good news for small and medium-sized businesses in Japan.
