By Michiyo Nakamoto and Alexandra Harney in Tokyo Published: August 9 2000 21:40GMT | Last Updated: August 9 2000 23:42GMT Japan has long prided itself as a modern powerhouse of skilled workers dutifully churning out quality products using cutting-edge technologies. Not any more, at least not in the world of information technology. Evidence is growing that the country is falling behind in the IT race and struggling to become an advanced information society. Japan's academic institutions are considered third rate by leading IT professionals, according to Tokyo University, the most prestigious academic institution in the country, which does not even have an IT department. And once prestigious research institutions, such as the government's own Electronic Technology Library, are not coming up with the commercial breakthroughs necessary to keep the country ahead. Growing alarm at the lack of IT skills has forced the country to swallow its pride and open its doors to foreign engineers. A recent survey by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry shows a shortage of about 200,000 IT engineers. "Japan could miss the boat if it doesn't secure sufficient numbers of top level IT engineers," warns Keisuke Murakami, deputy director of the Information Processing Promotion division at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. "If that happens, the Japanese electronics industry will lose its international competitiveness," he says. Even with unemployment at a record 4.6 per cent, the number of foreign engineers coming to work in Japan - including IT engineers - has risen strongly over the past several years from about 3,400 in 1991 to nearly 15,700 last year. Many government leaders believe that Japan will need to invite substantially more IT engineers to cope. Pasona, a temporary work agency, plans to hire 50 IT engineers from India this autumn and to invite up to 10,000 in the next nine months to work at Japanese companies. The problem is particularly acute at small ventures, which have failed to take off as strongly as in the US, in part because of the difficulty of attracting qualified personnel. "Most Japanese don't want to join a venture business that could sink any day," says Sunao Takatori, president of Yozan, a highly successful supplier to telecommunications group DoCoMo which employs 25 Chinese engineers. The shortage of IT workers - both managers and engineers - is the single biggest problem facing new internet companies, industry executives say. "One of the most striking differences for us in Japan versus the US is the difficulties of assembling a strong technical team," says John Macintosh, managing director of Warburg, Pincus Japan, a venture capital group. ValueCommerce, an e-commerce company, has hired engineers from France, Russia and Canada. But the impact of the shortage has extended beyond start-ups to some of the biggest names in Japanese industry. Akihito Satoh, director of the human resources department at Fujitsu, the semiconductors and computer group, said: "I hire 300 mid-career employees every year and I'd love to raise that to 500. But there are simply not enough people with those skills." The problem is not just the overall shortage of engineers. Those available often do not have the skills that are urgently needed, such as expertise in the computing languages used on the internet. It will take years for Japan to address the problem, which stems in large part from the failure of an inflexible academic system to nurture skilled IT professionals. _______________________________________________ Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
