IT companies in Japan shift toward external talent amid AI evolution

A survey by BREXA SOLVIA reveals a significant shift in IT engineer recruitment strategies in Japan. Approximately 70% of companies plan to increase their reliance on external personnel, such as temporary staff and outsourcing, over the next three years. The primary drivers for this shift include the need for flexible staffing based on project demands, optimizing workforce composition in anticipation of AI integration, and the rapid procurement of specific technical skills.

While 61.7% of companies have strengthened their recruitment of new graduates, over 60% report a gap between their hiring targets and actual results, indicating a persistent labor shortage. The rise of AI is also reshaping the demand for specific roles; while traditional implementation and testing tasks may see reduced headcount due to automation, there is growing demand for expertise in AI implementation, data security, and business design.

Industry discussions suggest that the traditional multi-layered subcontracting structure of System Integrators (SIers) is facing pressure. As AI becomes capable of handling coding, reviews, and legacy system migration, the role of the engineer is evolving from manual execution toward high-level requirements definition and managing AI-driven productivity.