Market forecast and Human Resources trends in the Healthcare industry[Japan]

Current trends in the healthcare industry

The healthcare industry is experiencing an increase in demand for advanced medical care as a result of technological advances, which has led to overall industry growth across the globe. In particular, the industry mainly includes areas such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices and biotech ventures. In addition, new health tech areas have emerged, such as electronic health records, online medical care and online medication guidance.

In addition, with technological advances and market expansion in the healthcare industry, IT industry giants such as GAFA and large companies from other industries are entering the healthcare industry by attempting to set up new businesses or by acquiring ventures and existing companies. The Japanese Prime Minister’s Office has also included ‘Next Generation Healthcare’ in its Growth Strategy Portal, emphasising investment and innovation support for healthcare.

The healthcare industry is expected to expand in a wide range of areas in the future.

Demand for and supply of personnel in the healthcare industry

There has always been a shortage of staff in the healthcare industry. This has been and continues to be the situation, as the industry requires a very high level of professional skills. However, the requirements are gradually changing, and there was a time in the past when it was possible to change jobs if you had a certain level of the industry experience. However, nowadays the work is becoming more specialised and people with a multidisciplinary perspective are in demand. For example, a PhD in science with a backbone in research and development and a business mind-set who can direct drug development to market from the perspective of business growth.

There has been and still is a shortage of talent in the healthcare industry, but many companies struggle to recruit quality personnel because there are few agents with the appropriate understanding of the high level of expertise. We have consultants who specialise in the healthcare industry and have a proven track record. Please contact us for more information.

Client (recruiting company) demand

Many companies are suffering from a shortage of staff and are looking for people with a high level of expertise. Demand is particularly high for people with an academic background, such as those with PhD experience.
Companies looking to enter the healthcare industry from a different industry are also looking for directors who can enter from the start-up of research and who can try new research areas.

Recruitment challenges in the healthcare industry

One of the challenges of recruitment in the healthcare industry is the difficulty in recruiting people with the right skills.
For example, one of the challenges faced by healthcare companies is supply chain management. Healthcare companies need to ensure better quality as their work is critical to human life. Managing costs, quality assurance and suppliers is critical as the supply chain involves various stakeholders, from sourcing resources from a global network, through manufacturing, to the consumer. There are not many people in the world who can manage such an entire supply chain, which is unique to the healthcare industry.

Furthermore, the trend toward work-life balance is increasing as more and more jobseekers are looking for a better work-life balance, and there is a growing demand for working styles and benefits.

As such, people who are familiar with the healthcare industry and who have achieved results are in high demand by all companies, and are therefore hard to find on the general job market.

If you would like to discuss this, please contact us here.

Our consultants specialise in healthcare, biotech and pharmaceuticals.

Takayo Miyamoto