Japan scales up hiring from IITs; may be next major recruiter

TMI Group, a Hyderabad-based talent management and consulting firm, and Willings Inc, a talent acquisition firm, have collaborated to boost placements and hiring by Japanese companies, seen to have huge potential.

“We have partnered with Willings Inc. They have a mission to engage top talent from IITs into top Japanese organisations. TMI Group has been a leading recruiting company for the last 30 years and understands Indian talent very well. This partnership is a great opportunity to hire for Japan,” B Ramakrishnan, Group CEO, TMI Group.

Willings Inc is a talent acquisition company, pioneering induction of fresh Indian talent, especially IITians, into Japan. They work with large and medium-sized Japanese companies and provide specialised consulting services, especially for absorption of foreign professionals.

What is GALK?

Gopal, Ankur, Luv and Karthik were the first four IITans to settle in Japan via an internship program. TMI Group and Willings have got together under a program named GALK — for the acronym derived from the initial letters of the four names — to handhold and protect the interests of the students taking up jobs in Japan.

Under this program, IIT students can take the first steps towards building a career in Japan. They can intern with Japanese companies during summer vacation at the end of the third year. Pre-placement offers (PPO) are released based on their performance during this internship. Candidates go through a multi-step selection process, jointly conducted by TMI and Willings, before being offered opportunity to intern. On an average, three out of five students bag a PPO. After completion of their studies at IIT, the candidate can join the company in Japan.

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The model starts with the Internship being undergone in Japan to give the IITian exposure to Japanese culture and also to provide the potential employer comfort to work with an Indian.

Given the Covid-19 scenario, all internships are being managed remotely, and the candidates do not have to travel to Japan.

“The partnership with TMI has allowed us to expand to many more IITs in 2020, despite the current pandemic. We have delivered pre-placement talks in IITs and over 1,000 students have indicated their interest and are undergoing the process of selection. We hope to increase the internships from 18 last year to over 50 this year,” said Toyoaki Machida, CEO of Willings Inc.

Japan is increasingly losing the patent race and needs youth with skillsets, especially in information iechnology. One estimate is that Japan needs approximately two lakh engineers immediately. However, hiring of foreign nationals has not been actively encouraged in Japan to date. Youth from nations that can help bridge this gap, such as India, have traditionally looked westward. This is due to the lack of exposure to Japan and strong influence of the western culture in campuses in India.

“The distance between India and Japan is 5,956 km. Willings is reducing this distance for the benefit of all,” says Sachit Yadav, IIT student from CSE Branch, Mandi, Batch of 2017-21.