Severe Shortage of Web Talent and Delays in Hiring and Deployment
First written in FY2016. 17 of 30 entries say "Restated". Latest entry: FY2026.
Members moved to the "Worse" side of this theme in 2017, 8 years before the typical company in this theme (2025).
The whole theme swung hardest in 2026: 34 of 109 companies on the "Worse" side.
29 other companies' latest entry also says "Worsened".
- FY2026WorsenedAnnual report
「Amid changes in labor supply and demand resulting from the rapid spread of generative AI, a serious supply-demand gap is projected to emerge, with a shortage of 3.39 million people in Japan by 2040 among talent responsible for applying AI, robotics and other technologies.」
In addition to the existing shortage of DX talent, the company identifies a new supply-demand gap, including a projected shortage of 3.39 million people responsible for applying AI, robotics and other technologies by 2040 and a shortage of business architects exceeding 40%. - 2026-05-14RestatedEarnings
「Many companies feel that they lack the personnel needed to promote DX, and according to DX Trends 2025, more than 80% of Japanese companies said that they lack sufficient numbers of personnel to promote DX.」
Continued to cite an external survey showing a shortage of DX personnel. - FY2026-H1WorsenedAnnual report
「According to DX Trends 2025, more than 80% of Japanese companies reported that they lack sufficient talent, both in quality and quantity, to advance DX. In particular, the proportion reporting that the quality or quantity of talent is “significantly insufficient” remained above half of all respondents in the latest survey, as in the previous year, indicating that the talent shortage is a serious issue as digital transformation advances.」
Regarding the shortage of DX talent, the company continues to emphasize that the latest external survey found that more than 80% of Japanese companies reported insufficient quality and quantity, while the proportion reporting a “significant shortage” remained above half, describing the issue as serious. - FY2025-H1WorsenedAnnual report
「According to DX Trends 2024, more than 80% of Japanese companies reported that they lack sufficient talent, both in quality and quantity, to advance DX. In particular, the percentages reporting that the quality or quantity of talent is “significantly insufficient” both increased from the previous year, indicating that the talent shortage is becoming more severe as DX initiatives advance.」
The company updates its citation of external research on the shortage of DX talent, stating that more than 80% of Japanese companies reported insufficient quality and quantity, and that the percentage reporting a “significant shortage” increased year on year, documenting the worsening talent shortage. - FY2024-Q3RestatedAnnual report
「While digital business is becoming more active, companies face difficulty recruiting and training in-house creator talent with expertise in the internet and digital technologies, and the talent shortage has become a major barrier to advancing their digital initiatives. According to DX White Paper 2023, more than 80% of Japanese companies reported that they lack sufficient talent, both in quality and quantity, to advance DX (Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan, DX White Paper 2023; published 16 March 2023).」
The company continues to state that the digital talent shortage is hindering companies’ digital initiatives and cites external survey results showing that more than 80% of Japanese companies recognize a shortage of DX talent in both quality and quantity. - FY2024-Q1RestatedAnnual report
「In this environment, our group is investing in human capital through continued active recruitment of new graduates and mid-career employees, as well as specialist skills development. We are working to expand our human capital by increasing the number of digital creators, the source of value creation for customers, improving their skills and enhancing employee engagement.」
Against the backdrop of a shortage of digital and IT talent, the company reconfirms its policy of continuing to recruit new graduates and mid-career employees and develop specialist skills. It states that there are no new risks or significant changes in the risks relating to the business. - FY2023WorsenedAnnual report
「According to DX White Paper 2023, more than 80% of Japanese companies reported that they lack sufficient talent, both in quality and quantity, to advance DX (Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan, DX White Paper 2023; published 16 March 2023).」
In addition to the existing shortage of IT professionals, the company cites an external survey showing that more than 80% of Japanese companies reported insufficient DX talent in both quality and quantity, further quantifying the breadth of the talent shortage. - FY2023-Q3WorsenedAnnual report
「The job-change offers-to-applicants ratio for IT engineers was 12.09x in December 2022, indicating markedly strong demand compared with the overall average of 2.54x (Persol Career, Job-Change Offers-to-Applicants Ratio Report; announcement dated 19 January 2023), clearly reflecting the talent shortage.」
The job-change offers-to-applicants ratio for IT engineers rose to 12.09x, compared with the overall average of 2.54x, providing new quantitative evidence of the severity of the talent shortage. - FY2023-Q2RestatedAnnual report
「While digital business is becoming more active, companies face difficulty recruiting and training in-house creator talent with expertise in the internet and digital technologies, and the talent shortage has become a major barrier to advancing their digital initiatives. Approximately 80% of Japanese companies recognize that they lack sufficient talent, both in quality and quantity, to drive transformation under their business strategies. The results also indicate that fewer than half of companies reported achieving results from their digital initiatives, commonly referred to as “digital transformation (DX)” (Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan, DX White Paper 2021; published 11 October 2021).」
The company continues to identify the digital talent shortage as a barrier to advancing DX, and repeats external survey results showing that approximately 80% of Japanese companies recognize a shortage of talent to drive transformation and that fewer than half have achieved results from DX. It states that no new risks have arisen. - FY2022-Q2Additional quantification of the actual shortage of DX talentAnnual report
「While the DX market is gradually becoming more active, companies face difficulty recruiting and training in-house creator talent with expertise in the internet and digital technologies, and the talent shortage has become a major barrier to advancing DX. Approximately 80% of Japanese companies recognize that they lack sufficient talent, both in quality and quantity, to drive transformation under their business strategies, and the results indicate that approximately half of companies have yet to achieve results from their DX initiatives (Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan, DX White Paper 2021; published 11 October 2021).」
In addition to the previous explanation of the digital talent shortage, the company cites external survey results showing that approximately 80% of Japanese companies recognize a shortage of talent to drive transformation and that approximately half have not achieved results from DX, adding evidence of the shortage as a barrier to advancing DX. - FY2022-Q1RestatedAnnual report
「The job-change offers-to-applicants ratio for IT engineers was 7.84x in June 2021, indicating markedly strong demand compared with the overall average of 1.86x (Persol Career, Job-Change Offers-to-Applicants Ratio Report; announcement dated 15 July 2021). IT professionals are also expected to remain in short supply by up to approximately 790,000 by 2030 (Survey on IT Human Resources Supply and Demand, Summary, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; published in April 2019).」
The company continues to identify the talent-shortage risk, citing the 7.84x job-change offers-to-applicants ratio for IT engineers, the overall average of 1.86x and the projected maximum shortage of approximately 790,000 IT professionals in 2030. Although the ratio declined from 8.02x previously, the explanation that demand remains high has been maintained. - FY2021WorsenedAnnual report
「The job-change offers-to-applicants ratio for IT engineers was 8.02x in March 2021, indicating markedly strong demand compared with the overall average of 1.86x (Persol Career, Job-Change Offers-to-Applicants Ratio Report; announcement dated 15 April 2021). IT professionals are also expected to remain in short supply by up to approximately 790,000 by 2030 (Survey on IT Human Resources Supply and Demand, Summary, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; published in April 2019).」
The job-change offers-to-applicants ratio for IT engineers rose to 8.02x, compared with the overall average of 1.86x, up from 7.29x in the previous disclosure. The projection of a maximum shortage of approximately 790,000 IT professionals in 2030 also remains unchanged. - FY2021-Q3WorsenedAnnual report
「The job-change offers-to-applicants ratio for IT engineers was 7.29x in November 2020, indicating markedly strong demand compared with the overall average of 1.79x (Persol Career, Job-Change Offers-to-Applicants Ratio Report; announcement dated 21 December 2020). IT professionals are also expected to remain in short supply by up to approximately 790,000 by 2030 (Survey on IT Human Resources Supply and Demand, Summary, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; published in April 2019).」
The gap between the 7.29x job-change offers-to-applicants ratio for IT engineers and the overall average of 1.79x is shown, together with the previously disclosed projection of a maximum shortage of approximately 790,000 IT professionals in 2030, providing a more specific indication of the severity of the talent shortage. - FY2021-Q2WorsenedAnnual report
「Amid the full-scale adoption of corporate digital transformation and digital marketing, research data indicate that up to approximately 790,000 IT professionals will be in short supply by 2030 (Survey on IT Human Resources Supply and Demand, Summary, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; published in April 2019). The shortage of digital creators is therefore expected to become increasingly severe.」
The projected future shortage of IT professionals has been revised from approximately 600,000 to up to approximately 790,000, quantifying the talent-shortage risk at a higher level. - FY2021-Q1RestatedAnnual report
「Amid the full-scale adoption of corporate digital transformation and digital marketing, research data indicate that approximately 600,000 IT professionals will be in short supply by 2030 (Research Results on the Latest Trends and Future Estimates for IT Human Resources, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; announcement dated 10 June 2016). The shortage of digital creators is therefore expected to become increasingly severe.」
The company continues to disclose the projected shortage of approximately 600,000 IT professionals by 2030 and the further expected worsening of the digital creator shortage. - FY2020RestatedAnnual report
「However, because the internet industry is relatively new and growing rapidly, its talent pool is narrow. In addition, increasing demand for engineers, particularly in the digital industry in recent years, has made it difficult to recruit outstanding talent.」
The difficulty of recruiting highly capable digital talent continues to be identified as a key issue. - FY2020-Q3RestatedAnnual report
「Amid the full-scale adoption of corporate digital transformation and digital marketing, research data indicate that approximately 600,000 IT professionals will be in short supply by 2030 (Research Results on the Latest Trends and Future Estimates for IT Human Resources, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; announcement dated 10 June 2016). The shortage of digital creators is therefore expected to become increasingly severe.」
The company continues to disclose the projected shortage of approximately 600,000 IT professionals by 2030 and the further expected worsening of the digital creator shortage. - FY2020-Q2RestatedAnnual report
「Amid the full-scale adoption of corporate digital transformation and digital marketing, research data indicate that approximately 600,000 IT professionals will be in short supply by 2030 (Research Results on the Latest Trends and Future Estimates for IT Human Resources, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; announcement dated 10 June 2016). The shortage of digital creators is therefore expected to become increasingly severe.」
The company continues to disclose the projected shortage of approximately 600,000 IT professionals by 2030 and the further expected worsening of the digital creator shortage. - FY2020-Q1RestatedAnnual report
「Amid the full-scale adoption of corporate digital transformation and digital marketing, research data indicate that approximately 600,000 IT professionals will be in short supply by 2030 (Research Results on the Latest Trends and Future Estimates for IT Human Resources, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; announcement dated 10 June 2016). The shortage of digital creators is therefore expected to become increasingly severe.」
The company continues to disclose the projected shortage of approximately 600,000 IT professionals by 2030 and the further expected worsening of the digital creator shortage. - FY2019-Q3RestatedAnnual report
「Meanwhile, the effective job-offers-to-applicants ratio for internet professionals such as engineers, designers and producers is approximately 4x, remaining at a high level and ranking third among all 34 occupations even as the overall ratio trends downward (December 2018 job-change offers-to-applicants ratio, researched by Recruit Career Co., Ltd.; announcement dated 15 January 2019). As noted above, amid the full-scale adoption of corporate digital transformation and digital marketing, research data indicate that approximately 600,000 IT professionals will be in short supply by 2030 (Research Results on the Latest Trends and Future Estimates for IT Human Resources, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; announcement dated 10 June 2016). The shortage of digital creators is therefore expected to become increasingly severe.」
The effective job-offers-to-applicants ratio for internet professionals has remained high at approximately 4x, ranking third among 34 occupations. Together with the projection of a shortage of approximately 600,000 IT professionals by 2030, the company reconfirms the risk of a talent shortage. It states that there have been no new risks or significant changes in the risks relating to the business. - FY2019-Q2RestatedAnnual report
「Meanwhile, the effective job-offers-to-applicants ratio for internet professionals such as engineers, designers and producers is approximately 4x, remaining at a high level and ranking second among all 34 occupations (September 2018 job-change offers-to-applicants ratio, researched by Recruit Career Co., Ltd.; announcement dated 9 October 2018). As noted above, amid the full-scale adoption of corporate digital transformation and digital marketing, research data indicate that approximately 600,000 IT professionals will be in short supply by 2030 (Research Results on the Latest Trends and Future Estimates for IT Human Resources, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; announcement dated 10 June 2016). The shortage of digital creators is therefore expected to become increasingly severe.」
The effective job-offers-to-applicants ratio for professionals has remained high at approximately 4x, ranking second among 34 occupations. Together with the projection of a shortage of approximately 600,000 IT professionals by 2030, the company continues to identify the talent shortage as a risk. It states that there have been no new risks or significant changes in the risks relating to the business. - FY2019-Q1RestatedAnnual report
「Meanwhile, the effective job-offers-to-applicants ratio for internet professionals such as engineers, designers and producers has remained high at approximately 5x (June 2018 job-change offers-to-applicants ratio, researched by Recruit Career Co., Ltd.; announcement dated 9 July 2018). As noted above, amid the full-scale adoption of corporate digital transformation and digital marketing, research data indicate that approximately 600,000 IT professionals will be in short supply by 2030 (Research Results on the Latest Trends and Future Estimates for IT Human Resources, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; announcement dated 10 June 2016). The shortage of digital creators is therefore expected to become increasingly severe.」
The company reconfirms the persistence and future worsening of the talent shortage, citing the unchanged figures of an approximately 5x effective job-offers-to-applicants ratio for professionals and a projected shortage of approximately 600,000 IT professionals by 2030. - FY2018RestatedAnnual report
「However, because the internet industry is relatively new and growing rapidly, its talent pool is narrow. In addition, increasing demand for engineers, particularly in the digital industry in recent years, has made it difficult to recruit outstanding talent.」
The difficulty of recruiting digital talent continues to be identified as a key risk. The company also states that it will address this through mid-career recruitment, new graduate training, regional recruitment and global recruitment. - FY2018-Q3WorsenedAnnual report
「The effective job-offer ratio for internet professionals such as engineers, designers and producers exceeded 5x and was the highest among all occupations in the third quarter (November 2017 job-change offer ratio, compiled by Recruit Career Co., Ltd. and announced on 6 December 2017). As noted above, with the full-scale adoption of digital transformation and digital marketing by companies, research data has indicated that there will be a shortage of approximately 600,000 IT professionals in 2030 (Survey Results on the Latest Trends and Future Estimates for IT Professionals, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, announced on 10 June 2016). The shortage of digital creators is therefore expected to become increasingly severe.」
The company quantified the scale and future worsening of the talent shortage, citing the current effective job-offer ratio of more than 5x for internet professionals and a forecast shortage of approximately 600,000 IT professionals in 2030. The risk has materialized as a tightening of the recruitment market. - FY2018-Q2MaterialisedAnnual report
「This was due to the establishment of new subsidiaries, an increase of 2 consolidated subsidiaries through M&A, and business expansion, as well as reductions in overtime pay and other costs through in-house production and productivity improvement initiatives, in addition to delays in some areas of the planned proactive mid-career recruitment program.」
The company states that delays had in fact occurred in some areas of the planned proactive mid-career recruitment program. - FY2018-Q1RestatedAnnual report
「During the current first-quarter consolidated cumulative period, no new business or other risks arose. There were also no material changes to the business and other risks described in the securities report for the previous fiscal year.」
The company states that there are no new or significant changes in business risks, while the serious shortage of talent in the digital marketing market continues to be treated as an ongoing issue. - FY2017WorsenedAnnual report
「The recruitment market for internet professionals and digital creators is already depleted. As AI, IoT, Fintech and VR/AR, among other technologies, continue to develop in earnest, demand for digital creators is expected to increase further.」
The description of the talent shortage intensified from “serious” to a “depleted recruitment market,” with demand also expected to increase. - FY2017-Q2RestatedAnnual report
「In addition, to address the serious shortage of talent in the digital marketing market and achieve further business expansion」
The company continues to recognize the serious shortage of talent in the digital marketing market as an issue. The risk section states that there are no new risks or significant changes. - FY2017-Q1RestatedAnnual report
「In addition, to address the serious shortage of talent in the Web marketing market and achieve further business expansion, the Group is systematically securing outstanding Web talent through proactive graduate recruitment and training」
The company continues to recognize the serious shortage of talent in the Web marketing market. The business risks section of the first-quarter report states that there are no new risks or significant changes. - FY2016First statedAnnual report
「In addition, the company recognizes the serious shortage of Web talent in the recruitment market as a major issue.」
The company identifies difficulty recruiting outstanding Web talent, delays in making graduate hires productive, and attrition among recruited and trained personnel as factors affecting performance.