Phased Implementation
At the Tokyo headquarters of cloud service provider Money Forward Inc., a digital technologist from India, and his Japanese coworker, conversed in English. They were discussing a programming problem that had caused a malfunction in a prototype system. This digital technologist, who hails from India and graduated from a local engineering college, found his interest piqued in Money Forward after hearing at a career fair that the company did not require Japanese language proficiency.
Recognizing the need for more engineers, Money Forward
gradually implemented a policy requiring computer engineers in their division
to communicate in English starting last fall. The transition is expected to be
completed by the end of 2024. English will be utilized during departmental
meetings that involve at least one non-Japanese speaker. To support Japanese
employees in improving their English skills, Money Forward offers free weekly
one-hour English lessons at an outside school. Additionally, employees are
allowed to complete their homework during work hours.
The decision to adopt English was driven by the
company's struggle to secure a sufficient number of Japanese engineers. Even
coding experts from Japan frequently rely on English-written documents from the
United States for the latest information. A public relations representative
from Money Forward attributed the success of their language transition to
narrowing the goal exclusively to those who need to communicate in English.
However, the company has no current plans to make English the company-wide
language.
The shortage of tech professionals, combined with the
increasing digitization of businesses, has become a pressing concern for
enterprises. According to Doda, a recruitment site operator, the ratio of job
openings to job seekers for mid-career engineers in the information and
communications technology community exceeded 10-to-1 last fall, compared to
over 5-to-1 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
IT firm Cybozu Inc. established a new section last
autumn that operates using English as the lingua franca. The division focuses
on developing new services with the intention of expanding its sales network
overseas. Cybozu received applications from 500 individuals worldwide when
soliciting software engineers.
According to a public relations official from Cybozu,
these applicants possess exceptional skills, as computer science education
outside of Japan has become more widespread. Out of the 15 employees in the
newly established section, 10 are involved in computer engineering, and five of
them do not have Japanese as their mother tongue.
Sapporo Breweries Ltd. plans to require the 50 members
of its international business department to use English for work-related
activities starting in 2024. A public relations representative from Sapporo
Breweries stated that as the company's global business growth becomes
increasingly important, they anticipate more opportunities for communication in
English, both within and outside the company.
Many employers are now considering English as their
official language, particularly as they expand their business operations and
embark on new projects following the global COVID-19 pandemic. In the first
wave of this trend a decade ago, companies expected employees in all
departments and divisions to communicate in English, which faced strong
criticism. A public relations official from a leading IT firm deemed it
inappropriate to enforce the English-only rule on personnel or units that do
not rely on English.
In the second wave, however, employers typically limit
the use of English to international business departments, units requiring
specialized IT skills that are difficult to find locally, and similar
divisions. According to Ando, businesses are now more aware of the labor
shortage compared to ten years ago. They face the urgent need to expand their
international operations to achieve growth amidst Japan's shrinking population
and declining birthrate. Taking these factors into account, Ando predicts that
this latest shift will likely gain considerable momentum.
While some companies have successfully replaced
Japanese with English, there are both drawbacks and benefits to this language
transition. In 2016, IT firm Hennge KK designated English as its in-house
language for all employees in an effort to secure computer scientists, as
finding Japanese engineers became increasingly difficult. As a result, the
company saw a significant increase in the employment of foreign nationals, with
their ratio exceeding 20 percent compared to just 1 percent in 2014.
However, the policy change created challenges in
finding Japanese engineers, as some employees were hesitant to communicate in
English. In fact, a few individuals even left the company due to the language
transition. To motivate Japanese employees to learn English, Hennge implemented
language compensation allowances based on employees' language skills. Despite
these efforts, communication speed within the company slowed down. A public
relations representative from Hennge explained that conveying a message that
takes only three minutes in Japanese would require nearly 30 minutes in
English. Nuances also became difficult to express, making information sharing a
challenge.
Professor Nagai, a linguistics at Aoyama Gakuin
University, expressed concerns about potential communication issues. He pointed
out that Japanese individuals typically cannot compete with native English
speakers in English discussions. Professor Nagai emphasized that if foreign nationals
are appointed as bosses or executives, their opinions may be more readily
accepted within companies, regardless of the validity of their views.
In a world that grows increasingly interconnected, the
adoption of English as an in-house language by Japanese businesses marks a
significant shift in their approach to international expansion. As the second
wave of this linguistic transformation gains momentum, challenges and benefits
emerge. Will this language transition truly bridge cultural and communication
gaps, or will it inadvertently create new obstacles within the corporate
landscape? How will the embrace of English shape the future of Japanese
business, and what does it mean for the global business landscape as a whole?
Only time will reveal the true impact of this linguistic revolution.
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