TOKYO -- A Recruit Holdings subsidiary is developing Japan's first full-fledged platform allowing international students to register as temp workers, as the business seeks to tap growing demand for strong language skills from retailers and other employers.

Recruit Staffing aims to register 1,500 students by the fiscal year-end in March, in partnership with housing rental guarantor Global Trust Networks. Global Trust works with five universities, including Kyoto University, and serves about 20,000 students. It will ask students after securing their housing whether they want to work in Japan, encouraging those who do to register on Recruit Staffing's website.

International students legally may work up to 28 hours a week if they gain proper approval. Many already work as part-timers, but temp positions generally pay more per hour and provide greater opportunities to use their language skills.

Japanese electronics shops and other retailers face a shortage of staff who speak foreign languages amid the surge in inbound tourism. And many students look to work during the holidays to avoid conflicts with their classes, which means they could fill in for other temp workers who might need to spend time with their family during those days.

The service also would spare employers from vetting the students' identities themselves, since Global Trust underwent the process when it signed on as their guarantor.

Recruit Staffing has begun placing about 40 international students on a trial basis in Tokyo, and the company plans eventually to expand the operation to Osaka. It will make monthly visits to the workplaces and provide support to the students, as well as track their hours to ensure they fall within the legal limit.

(Nikkei)