Japan sees acceleration in digital transformation in times of Covid
Among the companies that have been thriving are consultancy firms that offer consulting on digital transformation, experience design and new product development. As well as marketing services agencies like integrated ad agencies, creative agencies, digital agencies, Ad/MarTech, and many more. They support their clients through rapid transformation to adapt to new markets and opportunities. They also help to develop and sell new products in those markets. Others are big tech, e-commerce and software companies.
日本語版はこちら (For the Japanese version, click here:) 国内給与水準2022デジタルポジション.
Recent developments in the market
Traditionally, Japan tends to have a highly loyal workforce and some people will remain in a job even if there are far better opportunities in the market. Labor mobility remains lower when compared to other countries, but that is slowly changing with younger people more open to changing jobs and pushing for higher compensation. “Strong loyalty in the workforce stems from Japan’s traditional way of thinking whereby dedicating oneself to a company is seen as a virtue. However, the job market has been changing recently. Internationally minded job seekers, old and young, are constantly looking for better opportunities and they’re not interested in staying with the same employer indefinitely”, says Yukino Osawa, Consultant at Cogs Japan.
Cogs Japan largely focuses on bilingual talent and we have seen the demand for such talent grow in the past years. This includes foreign firms operating in Japan who need managers that can communicate with HQ and with expat staff in-country. It also includes Japanese firms that are pushing to increase international sales as they face a shrinking market in Japan due to changing demographics that slows down demand.
Many Japanese companies are riding the wave of digital transformation pushed by flexible working arrangements, cloud tools for efficient collaboration and new demands from clients. Companies in the tech space that offer payment solutions have seen a boost along with software companies that offer SaaS products for a transformative solution. The same counts for MarTech companies that enable their clients (especially those in e-commerce) more efficient marketing efforts (SEO, data dashboarding, data analytics etc.).
Also companies in the D2C e-commerce space are seeing big growth, either by improving their own digital platform or by more efficient use of existing platforms like Rakuten and Amazon. “The majority of these companies have bilingual requirements, while the market in our experience offers around 10-15% of professionals that have a high level of business English”, says Chris Frost, Founder of Cogs and CEO of Cogs APAC.
Opportunities
There is a strong demand and increased compensation for people that can develop creative and innovative ideas, strategies, and tactics based on their understanding of data. Companies are looking for advertising and marketing professionals who can work with data and come up with creative solutions based on data and not just propose creative work based on a “gut feeling” or an outlier idea.
In digital marketing and e-commerce there is a demand for people that know how to run programmatic campaigns and that can utilize social media to drive growth for e-commerce businesses.
Other opportunities lie in the experience design space, incl. service, product and UX/UI design especially when connected to digital transformation. According to Chris, there is a strong difference in demand for digitally focused skills vs traditional skills. For example, a product designer who started in graphics and grew into UX design to product design could be on 40-50% more than their peer who worked in graphic design 5-7 years ago. That means progressive digital skills are on a higher pay scale than colleagues in traditional roles. And the same counts for other roles like analytics, where professionals in digital analytics and marketing science that know more about digital channels and tools, could earn significantly more than their peers in business analytics on customer experience.
Another opportunity is visible for sales roles, particularly in the AdTech/MarTech sector where there is a robust demand for “hunter” type salespeople who can acquire new clients. Especially for mid-level roles that require some level of bilingual capabilities because there is a small supply of successful salespeople available in the market. Responsibility and revenue are the two key drivers of value and are rewarded accordingly.
Attain the right talent
Workplace flexibility is something that has emerged due to COVID and is becoming an important differentiator among companies. There is a spectrum of post-COVID plans emerging from 100% back-to-the-office to 100% fully remote. The bulk of companies looking to implement some kind of hybrid plan with 2-3 days/week in the office. The more flexibility offered, the more attractive a company is for some top talent.
Yukino adds “Even a very traditional company like NTT, a telecommunications company, decided to let employees work anywhere in Japan allows their employees to avoid notorious rush-hours. And those who needed to take up a post away from their home are now able to live with their families. We’re expecting more traditional companies to follow this new trend.”
Salary benchmark
When studying our salary benchmark, keep in mind that we are mainly covering international roles, meaning intl. companies originating from Japan and foreign companies such as agencies, consulting firms, big brands or tech companies.
According to Chris, a Tech company might pay more for a Product Manager or UX designer than a Japanese domestic-focused business that is developing its first digital platform. Also, agencies usually offer higher basic salaries with lower benefits packages than consulting firms. Outliers are big tech companies like FAANG (Facebook/Meta, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google/Alphabet) and major software businesses (supplying enterprise software), compared to lower-paying companies with a domestic-only focused business. We base our benchmark on bilingual candidates, who can command higher salaries with the same skills because they lean towards international companies and regional roles.
If you would like to talk to the team about hiring or salary brackets please send an e-mail to konnichiwa@cogsagency.com. If you are looking for a new role, explore our job board.
Commercial
Japanese Yen (¥), Full Time Salary (calc. Annually)
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Director of Data Analytics
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E-commerce Senior Manager
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E-commerce Manager
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Digital Marketing Director
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Digital Marketing Manager
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SEO Manager
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SEO Executive
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Head of Production
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Project Director
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Senior Project Manager
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Project Manager
Project & Programme Management
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Managing Director
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Client Services Director
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Group Account Director
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Account Director
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Account Manager
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Acccount Executive
Account Management
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Country Manager
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Sales Director
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Sales Manager
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Sales Exec
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Customer Sucess Director
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Senior Customer Sucess Mangaer
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Customer Sucess Manager
Sales and customer sucess in SaaS; martech, ad tech
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Head of Strategy
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Planner/Strategist
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Executive Creative Director
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Art Director
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Designer (visual)
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Designer (service)
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Junior designer (Service)
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Design Director (UX and Product)
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DSenior Designer (UX and Product)
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Designer (UX and Product)
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Junior designer (UX and Product)
Design
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Social Media Director
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Social Media Manager
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Senior Content Strategist
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Content Strategist
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Senior Content Producer
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Content Producer