TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Masumi Minegishi) announces that, from April 2018, its wholly owned Asian subsidiary, RGF Hong Kong Limited (“RGF”; Headquarters: Hong Kong; President: Takashi Kuzuhara, www.rgf-hr.com/ ), will integrate its brands and strengthen organizational governance to enhance its range of permanent recruiting services, from executive to staff, across Asia.

1. Brand Integration Plan

RGF’s seven existing brands will be integrated into three service brands: RGF Executive Search, RGF Professional Recruitment, and RGF HR Agent.

Characteristics of each service brand are as follows:

− RGF Executive Search: Executive search brand aimed primarily at foreign-owned and local companies seeking leaders for senior executive to mid-level management roles.

− RGF Professional Recruitment: Recruitment brand aimed at personnel for mid-level management to specialist roles. Will enable foreign-owned and local companies to find the best local, bilingual staff quickly from RGF’s extensive jobseeker database.

− RGF HR Agent: Aimed primarily at Japanese companies with offices abroad and positions that require Japanese or Japanese-speaking personnel. Will draw on a deep understanding of Japanese companies and vast database of Japanese-speaking personnel to find the best candidates.

“This brand integration will reinforce RGF’s competitive advantage, which stems from the Recruit Group’s unique expertise and track record spanning about 60 years in the recruitment business, as well as its investments in IT,” says Takashi Kuzuhara, President of RGF Hong Kong Limited. “Another major strength is our robust network among executive and specialist personnel, and our extensive database of bilingual talent in Asia, which we have cultivated together with the companies we have acquired over more than 20 years. We will continue to grow our 1,300-plus-strong workforce as we strive to deliver even higher quality recruitment services to companies and jobseekers in Asia.”

“China’s market continues to grow rapidly, creating fierce demand for talent. Many second-tier cities are currently experiencing talent scramble due in part to government housing subsidies for highly-educated candidates,” says David Chan, Head of Executive Search Business in Greater China and CEO of Bó Lè Associates. “The diversified HR services offered by Bó Lè Associates, BRecruit and RGF HR Agent are becoming more and more essential to full-scale talent consulting. In addition to our strong network, I believe that brand integration provides us with new opportunities to service broader talent markets.”

“India is an incredibly dynamic market with major disruptive changes happening in the areas of banking, infrastructure, renewable energy, and digital technology,” says Sanjay R Shastry, Head of Executive Search Business in India. “These changes will greatly impact talent acquisition and management needs. Technologies such as automation, predictive analytics, robotics and AI are prompting fundamental shifts in skill requirements across all levels of an organization. This is an opportune moment for Recruit Holdings’ international recruiting business to rebrand itself as an organization offering unique HR services to meet evolving corporate needs.”

Mr. John Tucker, Regional Head of Japan, will lead these changes from Singapore as Regional Head of Southeast Asia, effective January 1, 2018.

“We want clients and candidates to know they can expect the same world-class service from us in all the markets where we operate, so we’re excited about aligning all of RGF’s businesses in Asia under these three clear, focused service brands,” says John Tucker, Regional Head of Southeast Asia and Japan.

2. RGF’s History and Permanent Recruiting Market Trends

In response to the rising need for full-time employees in Asia, RGF began offering Japanese-speaking recruitment services in Shanghai in 2006 as part of the Recruit Group’s international operations. As business expanded in the region, RGF also acquired CDSi (Japan) in 2008, Bó Lè Associates (China) , BRecruit (China), and the franchise operations of a leading search firm in India in 2013. Through a local-to-local focus on the permanent recruiting market in each individual city and country, the company has helped make the optimal match of personnel to companies. Today, it provides services in 11 countries and markets, and 26 cities, drawing on local market knowledge amassed over many years, as well as broad networking capabilities. In Asia, the company has placed over 40,000 personnel—from executives through to staff, establishing a strong reputation as a trusted recruitment services provider.

The rapid shift toward localization at global companies and globalization among local companies in Asia has fueled substantial growth in the permanent recruiting market. Demand for employment from people who wish to acquire global experience, regardless of job function and tenure in the workplace, is also on the rise, and this trend is expected to accelerate. Through its range of permanent recruiting services, from executive to staff, RGF aims to deliver optimal, cross-border recruitment solutions that transcend national and city boundaries. RGF will integrate its service brands to match the characteristics of target market participants, both jobseekers and companies seeking to hire. RGF will also strengthen organizational governance in conjunction with this move. Enhancing RGF’s services in this manner will enable recruitment officers to search for the best personnel at every level from across all of Asia through its closest regional location. It will also rapidly connect jobseekers with opportunities for career advancement across national and city borders.

3. Company Name Changes

In conjunction with the brand integration, the following six companies (headquarter and certain group companies) will be renamed as of April 1, 2018:

About the Recruit Group

Founded in 1960, the Recruit Group creates and provides platforms that connect companies and consumers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, the Group operates a wide range of services, including HR technology, recruitment advertisement, employment placement, staffing, housing and real estate, bridal, travel, dining, beauty, and others. The Group has more than 45,000 employees and operates in more than 60 countries. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.recruit-rgf.com. For more information on RGF International Recruitment Business, please visit www.rgf-hr.com/

Contacts

Media Inquiries:
Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd.
Satoko Yasunaga, +81 3 6835 1882
Public Relations Dept.
satoko_yasunaga@r.recruit.co.jp