Does anyone know the Japan market state for Software Devs are at the big American firms in 2023 Q4 (and/or 2024 Q1–may be too early for this)? I know for a fact that the American market is rebounding, albeit slowly. As I understand it, FAANG + Indeed/Stripe are not hiring Software Devs in Tokyo but are comparable opportunities bound to pop up soon due to a reasonably better economy in the States?
I’m simply wondering whether I should make the move back to the States or slog it out in Japan for a bit longer until a decent option is available. Software in Japan is generally pretty terrible (salary, working standards, coding standards, expectations, application) and I’m seeing my career suffer due to it. Finding a dev role in the States right now is also not a cake walk but they also have far more openings, far better pay, remote opportunities all across the country, and I have decent experience + education.
I prefer to be in Japan for most other life conditions, but I am sincerely concerned for my career. Any information would be helpful. Thank you.
5 comments
APJ is slow. The A of APJ is starting to rebound. But Japan and Korea are not, and with the weakening yen, general sales forecasts for Japan are being reduced across the board in cloud and saas companies. Hiring freezes are in effect for pretty much all the software companies I know with a presence in japan, aside from the Japanese native like rakuten, mercari etc.
I’d assume software dev roles are the same, aside from domestic companies. Rakuten always seems to be hiring, but they’re a sweatshop and skilled SEA and European headcount are cheap for them.
FAANG are slowly starting again and afaik they pay quite well compared to jp market. However, they will never pay as well as in America.
In the end it is just down to what is important to you. Do you care more about money at your current stage of life or about the experience of living in Japan? A year of experience is still a year of experience and you could probably jump back to America anytime you want.
If you’re worried, just give the job hunt a try in both countries and then weigh your options.
I’m not sure how much you’re making but let’s assume above 10 million. Let’s also assume you’re American(if you’re not, getting a visa is harder)
Once you’ve reached a certain amount of money here, it will be hard to find another company that will pay you as much or more. So people loop through the same set of companies or stay at a company for a long time. So let’s say you made it to Google or Apple, what will you do after?
> Software in Japan is generally pretty terrible (salary, working standards, coding standards, expectations, application) and I’m seeing my career suffer due to it.
Yup, I’ve worked at a few well-known Japanese companies(not Rakuten) and I had this thought a few times before and figured I should leave. Only a very few of the companies I’ve worked at care about code quality. I’ve always made an excuse and tried staying here since I like the QoL.
In the end, you have to ask what’s important, list the pros and cons, etc. If you care more about money or your career, go for the states. You might do better there than here(assuming you’re mid-level or above). However, life is also short and a career isn’t everything. I know some great software engineers here and they’re satisfied with life in Japan so they stick around.
Personally, career-wise, I don’t really see a future here. I’m hoping to get an equivalent offer I did last year or better and leave soon.
If you want to optimize your career, a move to US is probably a better choice.
If you want to balance with quality of life, then it’s more difficult to compare. (QoL also depends on the company you would enter in Japan)
That said, I think lot’s of company allow remote work now, so it made QoL a better in general.
> Software in Japan is generally pretty terrible (salary, working standards, coding standards, expectations, application)
If you include the paid vacations, health care, job safety (cannot be fired easily) etc then it may balance out.
I’d rather have lower salary, higher taxes, but functional public services and structures alongside with having a safe job.
What I want to say is that it’s subjective.