Headhunters cash in as Japanese companies strain to fill top jobs

Difficult-to-find professionals are also becoming harder to retain

20190614 recruiting

With Japan's jobs-to-applicants ratio hitting a 44-year-high last September, the country's headhunter business is booming. (Photo by Karina Nooka)

JADA NAGUMO, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- Fees charged by headhunting agencies are surging in Japan as companies struggle to find top professional talent in a rapidly aging society.

At Professional Bank, an executive search consultancy based in Tokyo that targets technical experts in manufacturing and construction, fees have jumped by about a third over the past five years.

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