Event Details

Talent, the world's most valuable commodity, has been difficult to find for the best part of one generation. Even before Covid-19, when profits were up and capital was footloose and fancy-free, bosses fretted that talented workers were in short supply. Part of the problem

may lie with how the word is defined in the first place. Is talent a concept saved for workers with an innate ability, for example turning a P/L around or inventing a revolutionary technology, or is it merely tantamount to brainpower and the capacity to think creatively?


Just how scarce "talent" has become can be observed in the recent drop of productivity, a way to quantify how much employees contribute to an organisation's results. The latest data suggest that productivity has fallen sharply between 2021-2022. Unfortunately, there is little

sign that 2023 will be any different. That matters greatly, because higher productivity is the greatest driver of GDP growth and more take-home pay. This particularly should matter to companies where the trendy scourge of "quiet quitting" has taken hold.


In Japan, CxOs are equally fidgety. Employees are changing jobs at a record pace (about 33% of new college graduates leave after three years) and companies are struggling to respond to increasing demands for flexible hours and working locations. Furthermore, a weakened currency and stagnant wage growth make it less likely that talent will be seeded from abroad —only 0.025% of Japan's workforce is foreign-born. How can business leaders respond to the talent shortage? What lessons can be learned from other companies' experience? What can executives expect as new working trends take hold despite the economy's apparent downward turn in 2023? Join us at this event where we bring together some of Japan's most experienced business leaders to discuss how to acquire and retain talent this year.


Dress code: Business attire

Agenda

8:00 AM - 8:20 AM
Registration, Networking and Breakfast
8:20 AM - 9:30 AM
Discussion

Speakers

  • The Honorable Masahiko Shibayama (Former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology & Member of House of Representatives)

    The Honorable Masahiko Shibayama

    Former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology & Member of House of Representatives

    Mr Shibayama is a Japanese lawyer and politician. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo in 1990. He is currently serving his 7th-term as Member of the House of Representatives for the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP). His constituency is Saitama 8th Ward, including the cities of Tokorozawa, Fujimino and Sanpo-cho.

    During his political career he has served as Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2018-2019; Special Advisor to the Prime Minister in 2015-2017, State Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications in 2012-2013; and Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2008-2009. Within the LDP he has been Acting Secretary-General; Acting Chairperson, LDP Policy Research Council; Special Advisor to the President; Director at the Treasury and Finance Division; and Director at the Judicial Affairs Division. He is currently chairing the LDP's Research Commission for Strengthening Education and Human Resources.

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  • Jordan Jarjoura (Head of Talent Capabilities at Meshd)

    Jordan Jarjoura

    Head of Talent Capabilities at Meshd

    Head of Talent Capabilities (Meshd) / Strategy Advisor (ZooKeep)

    From engineers, producers, designers and artists for Square Enix in California to heading Google’s Staffing Division for Korea and Japan, Jordan has experienced the challenges Talent Acquisition and HR teams face across the world first hand for many years.

    Now, as Head of Talent Capabilities at Meshd, a 360° Managed Talent Solutions firm focused on serving Japanese and global Industry 5.0 clients, Jordan uses his expertise to support companies of all sizes with building the teams, processes and infrastructure to successfully attract and retain talent they need.

    In addition, the Six Sigma Yellow Belt holder is an active member of Japan’s startup community. Not only does he enjoy volunteering for startup events such as Slush Japan but has also recently took the position of investor and advisor at Meshd’s sister brand ZooKeep, an HR Tech startup that provides an intuitive but powerful Talent Acquisition Platform for busy TA teams who are looking to digitalize their hiring processes in an easy-to-use, intuitive cloud platform.

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  • Justin Scarpone (Senior Vice President & General Manager, Asia Pacific at Scopely Inc.)

    Justin Scarpone

    Senior Vice President & General Manager, Asia Pacific at Scopely Inc.

    Justin is an accomplished strategic and operational executive with 30 years of leadership experience in The Walt Disney Company, ITOCHU Corporation, and most recently, Scopely Inc. He has a strong track record of creative and financial success ranging from overseeing production/marketing/sales in
    the gaming, mobile, & consumer products industries. He is perhaps best known for leading some of Japan and Asia's most successful game titles, such as Disney Tsum Tsum, Kingdom Hearts, and Marvel Future Fight.

    Justin has lived in Japan, and conducted business across Asia for his entire career, providing regional insights and leadership while serving as a reliable counterpart to HQ Senior Executives. He has an extensive network of regional contacts and relationships.

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  • Yohei Shibasaki (Founder and CEO of Fourth Valley Concierge Corporation)

    Yohei Shibasaki

    Founder and CEO of Fourth Valley Concierge Corporation

    Yohei joined Sony Corporation after graduating from Sophia University in 1998. He remained at Sony for a decade and went on to establish Fourth Valley Concierge Corporation, a global hiring support platform that connects human talent across borders, in 2007. Since then, he has played an important role in academia, appearing as a visiting lecturer at Sophia University since 2013, and as advisor at Musashino University.

    He was awarded the recognition of Young Global Leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum (at Davos) in 2013. In 2016, he served as a core member at the Declining Birth Rate & Population Issues PT Working Group, at the Japan Association of New Economy.

    Yohei has also served as a member of the committees for “foreign workers’ employment policy survey”, and “foreign worker’s employment promotion of human resource development by private employment agencies”, run by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan.

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  • Vivian Tokai (Director, North Asia of Economist Intelligence Corporate Network)

    Vivian Tokai

    Director, North Asia of Economist Intelligence Corporate Network

    Vivian Tokai is the North Asia Director of the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network based in Tokyo and covering Japan and South Korea. She is responsible for programme development and client engagement. She works closely with c-level executives on key economic and political issues and industry-specific analysis to support their businesses in the region.

    Vivian is a government affairs and public policy professional with 25 years of experience covering a wide variety of sectors, including energy, environment, aviation, transportation, defense, IT and digital economy. She has extensive senior leadership experience with a wide range of blue-chip multinational businesses in Japan. Prior to joining the Economist Group, she led Japan government relations activities at UPS, GE, Facebook, eBay and Honeywell. She was responsible for developing and executing strategic lobbying approaches, and ensuring strong relationships with regulators and government leaders.

    Vivian has been active in a number of business organisations. She is a member of the Keizai Doyukai, Japan Association of Corporate Executives, and has held various board roles with the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. She has also been a visiting professor and lecturer at a number of Japanese universities including Chuo University and Showa Women’s University.

    Her personal commitment is female empowerment. She served as Chief Diversity Officer at Citigroup in Japan and was selected as Women’s Leadership member at GE.

    Vivian also possesses extensive experience in the media. She anchored a sports news segment of a daily evening news program at NHK, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. She earned a Master of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism from School of Journalism, College of Communication, Boston University. She can speak Japanese and English, and introductory Chinese, Korean and French.

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Venue

Kaede (B1F), The Westin Tokyo

1-4-1 Mita
Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan

If you have any questions please contact EICN North Asia

Contact Organizer

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