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Christopher Lamb

Asia Telecoms Recruitment Insight 2023

5 minutes

August 2023: Asia telecoms market update Q3 2023In his latest market update, Christopher Lam...

By Christopher Lamb

Regional Managing Director Asia

August 2023: Asia telecoms market update Q3 2023

In his latest market update, Christopher Lamb, highlights the three most in-demand telecoms jobs in Japan,  the top skills that companies are seeking, his recruitment predictions for the next 12 months and whether Chinese companies are continuing their expansion into the Japanese market as predicted in April 2022 (see below).

Three most in-demand jobs

  • Account Manager (Direct Sales or Channel Partner Sales)
  • Presales Engineer
  • Post Sales Support Engineer

The top skills companies are currently seeking

For Account Managers:

  • Native Japanese or Fluent Japanese in business level enough to work with Native Japanese clients
  • Have permanent visa or work permit as the person has been working in Japan for such a long time
  • Fluent English as the sales person also work with global technical support team
  • Good clients and/or partner networks, and/or expertise in the products, service or solutions

Presales Engineer/Post Sales Support Engineer:

  • Communication skills enough to be able to establish good relationship with customers, colleagues and supervisors
  • Fluent Japanese in business level enough to support Native Japanese customers
  • Strong technical background directly related to specific products, service and solutions
  • Have permanent visa or work permit as the person has been working in Japan for such a long time

Predictions for the next 12 months in the Japanese telecoms market

For large IT, telecoms and Cybersecurity vendors, things will remain as they are, constant. Unfortunately, there have been redundancies and/or hiring freezes. However, from speaking with my clients, things will not be like this forever (thankfully), so hopefully in the coming months things will begin to change and in 12 months time, I hope we are in a very different and much more positive recruitment landscape. For small or medium sized IT, Telecom and Cybersecurity vendors, things are looking very positive. The reason is that hiring needs for replacements is still frequent and new IT startup companies are also keen to hire the Country manager to launch new business in Japan. I am excited to see how these start-up companies progress.

Are there more Chinese companies expanding into Hong Kong and Japan? 

Yes and No.

Chinese companies still want to focus on Telecom and Networking technologies  in Japan. However, they are facing some difficult challenges when expanding mainly due to the US sanction toward Chinese Telecom and Networking technology companies.

However, Chinese IoT hardware and/or software venders are entering the Japanese market to grow their business and empower enterprise customers such as manufacture, logistics, warehouse, retail industries that have physical facilities etc. So hiring needs from Chinese IoT companies for Japanese-speaking sales in Japan are frequent. I hope this continues for the coming months.




February 2023: Asia telecoms market update Q1 2023

One of the key trends to watch in the Asia telecoms market in 2023 is the continued growth of 5G networks, whether that is the Japan telecom market, the China telecom market or the Hong Kong telecom market . With 5G technology provider faster and more reliable connectivity, many countries in the region are investing heavily in its rollout. Another trend to watch for is the rise of digital transformation. With the increasing importance of technology in the modern business landscape, many companies are investing heavily in digital transformation initiatives to improve their competitiveness and drive innovation. This is leading to increased demand for cloud computing, IoT, and other digital technologies, which are helping to drive growth in the Asia telecom market.

  • Telecoms jobs in high demand across Asia

Christopher Lamb, our specialist recruitment consultant based in Hong Kong, highlights the telecoms jobs in Asia most in demand this quarter.

  • Public sector sales

Telecoms organisations such as Juniper, Cisco, VMware, Sales Force, Splunk or any IT, Telecom or network solution vender in Japan are focusing heavily on developing new business opportunity in central government, local government, universities, research institutes or any organization in Japan's public sector. The public sector in Japan is improving its cloud-based IT network infrastructure and DX is the key trend.

  • Telecoms sector sales

Whatever the solution of 5G is, selling 5G network, multi-could, cyber security, network testing, routing or switching solutions to telecom operators in Japan is in high demand. This is because Telecom operators need to update their legacy infrastructure to save their cost and make innovative network service.

  • IoT solution sales

Sales role selling IoT and connectivity solutions for Automotive, Retail/Robotics/smart building/Manufacturing industries are in high demand. This is because the innovation of smart car, smart factory, smart building, smart city is seen in Japan. So IoT solution venders think that there is/will be a great chance to develop their business now.

Other jobs that are in demand within the Asia telecoms market include; 5G network engineers, cloud computing specialists, cyber security specialists, network architects, data scientists, and project managers. The Asia telecoms market is dynamic and evolving constantly.




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