TokyoDev’s mission is to help international software developers find jobs at Japanese companies. As a result, all of our client companies are open to hiring international developers—but not all of them want to hire international developers who currently live overseas.
Why not recruit internationally?
You might wonder why such companies are unwilling to consider exceptional candidates who don’t yet live in the country. Below, I’ve listed the most common reasons.
They’re not familiar with the process
Sometimes, companies simply do not know what is involved in hiring a developer who lives overseas: visa requirements, what degree of support the new hire will need, etc. While TokyoDev educates companies about the process, these unknown factors can influence a company to only accept in-country applicants.
Obtaining a visa takes time and isn’t guaranteed
Even when a company knows what’s involved, obtaining a visa for a candidate will typically take at least two months—and I’ve heard of some cases where it has taken six months or more.
Because there’s some uncertainty about the processing time, there’s also the risk a candidate will give up or accept another offer before they receive the visa. I’ve seen this happen firsthand.
In addition, it’s possible that the visa request may be rejected outright, particularly if the candidate is qualifying for the visa via “10+ years of experience” rather than with a university degree.
International moves are expensive and risky
Once a candidate receives the visa, they’ll still need to move to Japan. For most people, there’s more to an international move than just hopping on a plane. Wrapping up their life in one country, and preparing to begin it in another, can add weeks or even months to the candidate’s start date.
There’s a fair amount of money involved too—not just plane tickets, but also temporary housing for when the candidate arrives. Furthermore, renting more permanent accommodations in Japan often involves high upfront costs.
While candidates frequently bear these expenses, some companies are deterred by the risk altogether due to the awkward possibility of a candidate spending time and money to move to Japan, only to discover they’re a poor fit at the company.
Even if the new employee is a great fit, though, the employee may discover that living in Japan doesn’t match their expectations.
Newcomers to Japan need additional support
When a person moves to Japan for the first time, they require quite a bit of assistance, even if they speak Japanese. Chances are they’ll need help registering with their local city hall, finding accommodations, figuring out how to pay bills, and more, and they’ll ask for support from their company. Small or early stage businesses in particular may not be able to spare the staff to aid newcomers in these matters.
Too many applicants
Japanese companies that recruit internationally can receive ten times the number of applicants they’d normally receive domestically. While this does give them access to an expanded hiring pool, it also means that more unqualified people apply. Recruiters must therefore spend extra time sorting through resumes from people who are just applying en masse to job openings, and who have no actual interest either in the company or in moving to Japan.
This is quite a different experience from when Japanese companies recruit domestically. Here they often face the opposite issue—they struggle to get anyone to apply at all. This means that Japanese hiring processes are often not designed to deal with a flood of applications.
For example, domestic Japanese Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) charge per application the company receives. That makes sense if you’re only getting high-quality leads, but when most applicants don’t meet even basic requirements, it can quickly become untenably expensive. In fact, some companies on TokyoDev that use such an ATS have asked us to email applications directly rather than use the system, which to my mind defeats the purpose.
Scammers and liars
AI tools have made it easier than ever to invent a job application that makes you look like the perfect candidate for the role. This, combined with the possibility of remote work, makes false applications an increasing issue. Some sources point to North Korea as being a major perpetrator.
As these types of scammers generally live outside of Japan, by focusing on current residents only, companies can reduce their odds of accidentally hiring one. Even if a fake applicant did somehow pass the initial screening, an in-person onboarding process reduces the risk even further.
Why not just hire candidates to work remotely?
Some readers have suggested that, if Japanese companies need international developers but aren’t willing to sponsor their visas and bring them to Japan, they could instead hire those same people to work remotely from their home countries.
The most obvious reasons Japanese companies prefer not to hire remote international workers are to cut down on unqualified applicants and decrease the risk of scammers, as explained above. However, there are a few additional explanations for their reluctance.
In-person culture
In TokyoDev’s annual developer survey, only 12 percent of respondents who were working at a Japanese company also worked at a company that was exclusively remote. Companies that prohibited any remote work were equally rare at 11 percent. The remaining respondents were employed at companies that favored hybrid work schedules of one kind or another.
Additionally, even organizations that work completely remotely in principle may still host regular in-person gatherings that are important for team-building and coordination.
Time zones
All of Japan is in the same time zone, so even if people are working remotely across the country, they can still work in a synchronous manner. Having people work remotely from different countries generally means they’ll be working in different time zones.
While some companies who employ remote workers internationally only do so from certain time zones, even having to make a decision about which time zones are compatible enough can cause companies to hesitate.
Extra legal risks and costs
When you hire someone in another country, you have an obligation to understand that country’s laws regarding things like employment, intellectual property, and taxation. Employer of Record (EoR) services can help mitigate the risks, but they also add extra costs and introduce their own uncertainties.
Legal obligations to have employees in Japan
Companies working in industries like finance or defense have told me that they have a legal obligation to require people to work in Japan, and cannot let Japanese employees work remotely even temporarily.
What if I already have permission to work in Japan, but am not living here?
One edge case companies usually haven’t considered is someone who lives abroad, but already has permission to work in Japan. For instance, this person may be a Japanese citizen, have a Japanese spouse, or have an Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services status of residence that hasn’t expired.
In these cases, companies will sometimes waive the requirement to be a current Japanese resident, but not always. Many of the concerns I’ve outlined above still apply: international moves take time and money, scammers can pretend to be Japanese citizens overseas, and the person may still need support when getting established in Japan.
If you’re one of these edge cases, and have lived in Japan before, it can be worth applying for “Japan residents only” jobs. However, understand that you may be filtered out by the company anyway.
Conclusion
While it can be frustrating to be an overseas developer looking for a job in Japan, companies do have legitimate reasons to prefer local candidates.
One silver lining is that, after you clear the initial hurdles and obtain your first position in Japan, those same barriers you encountered will then increase your odds of landing the next one!
If you’re currently looking for a job in Japan, our article on passing the resume screening stage will show you exactly what to highlight in your application to maximize your chances of success.
You can also join our Discord and learn from other developers who have successfully made it to Japan.
