Global Career

- Social issue that we address in the Global Career Business

Shortage and uneven distribution of healthcare professionals around the world

The total amount of global health spending continues to increase year by year, nearly doubling between 2000 and 2018, and demand for medical care services is growing rapidly in many countries.

There are some complex factors behind the expansion of demand for medical care services, such as demographic changes, including the aging of society, as well as economic trends, national policies, and changes in people's values, and the situation surrounding medical care services differs greatly among countries and regions. In economically advanced countries, such as Europe, Oceania, and parts of Asia, the demand for medical care is expanding as the population ages. Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East are experiencing increased medical needs due to population growth, as well as an increase in lifestyle-related diseases and improved medical standards due to economic growth, creating new demand for medical care.

However, in many of these countries, there is an overwhelming shortage in the supply of healthcare professionals to meet the growing demand. The reasons for supply shortages vary from country to country. In Europe, for example, the number of healthcare professionals is not increasing at a sufficient rate to meet the increase in demand because of the increasing number of retirements due to aging and slow growth in the number of new graduates entering employment. There are also countries such as Saudi Arabia that are facing a shortage of nurses as not many people want to become nurses due to religious and cultural backgrounds.

There are many countries that rely on foreign healthcare professionals to provide necessary medical care services because they cannot make up for the shortage solely by professionals in their own countries. Even so, however, the shortage has not yet been solved. For example, 30% of doctors and 20% of nurses in the UK and Australia, and 70% of doctors and 60% of nurses in Saudi Arabia are foreign-born healthcare professionals. The gap between supply and demand for healthcare professionals is expected to continue to widen worldwide due to supply shortages in meeting the growing demand. In the case of nurses, in 2025, the shortage is projected to be between 60 to 270 thousand in Japan, and in 2030, the shortage is projected to be 120,000 in Australia, 160,000 in South Korea, and 100,000 in Saudi Arabia, and in 2035, the shortage is projected to be 390,000 in Germany.

One of the reasons for the widening gap between supply and demand is the "uneven distribution" of healthcare professionals. In countries such as the U.K. and Australia, many healthcare professionals tend to be concentrated in healthcare institutions in urban areas, causing a serious problem of "uneven distribution among regions," in which it is difficult for hospitals in rural areas to secure personnel. In aging countries, such as South Korea, "uneven distribution among medical functions" is also a major problem. Many healthcare professionals prefer working in large hospitals with good working conditions, rather than working in chronic care and home care providers, where needs are growing.

This shortage and uneven distribution of healthcare professionals has resulted in the problem of people being unable to receive adequate quality medical care services.

We would like to solve the issue of the shortage and uneven distribution of healthcare professionals around the world by realizing the following mission.

- Mission of the Global Career Business

We aim to contribute to improving the quality of medical care around the world by solving the shortage and uneven distribution of healthcare professionals.

- Strategy for realizing the mission

Development of a global HCP supply platform

In our Global Career Business, we provide an HCP (healthcare professional) supply platform that connects healthcare institutions and healthcare professionals around the world. We have built a global network of hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare institutions, as well as doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. By matching these across borders as well as domestically, we are able to solve recruitment issues for healthcare institutions and provide employment opportunities for professionals on a global scale.

For healthcare institutions in countries that cannot make up for the shortage of workers within their own country, we provide cross-border matching for healthcare professionals who wish to work overseas for better working conditions and career advancement.

When providing services internationally, it is necessary to take into account the national policies, regulations, economic trends, cultures, religions, and differences in people's values and working styles in each country to achieve optimal matching. With our understanding of the situation in each country, we support the recruitment activities of healthcare institutions and job-hunting activities of healthcare professionals through the arrangement of recruitment trips (i.e. a recruiter of a healthcare institution travels to candidates' home country and holds interviews) and online interviews, based on job requirements for healthcare professionals by healthcare institutions, such as skills and nationality, and information on job seekers such as qualifications, desired compensation, and destinations.

For healthcare professionals, we provide support for the complicated procedures related to obtaining nursing qualifications and visas required in the destination country. We not only ensure proper working conditions in employment contracts, but also provide follow-up services to ensure that professionals can work in a good environment even after they start working in the destination country.

Currently, we provide cross-border matching services for healthcare professionals in the Philippines, Malaysia, Ireland, and Australia, and for healthcare institutions in the U.K., Germany, Ireland, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the U.S.

We also offer domestic matching services to address the shortage and uneven distribution of healthcare professionals in each country. In South Korea, for example, we promote matching activities, including proposing job opportunities in rural areas and small and medium-sized hospitals. Currently, we provide domestic matching services mainly in Korea, China, Ireland, and Australia.

Maximizing value as an HCP supply platform by expanding our client/HCP base and increasing matching

In order to realize the mission of our Global Career Business, which is to "improve the quality of medical care around the world," it is important to provide value to a greater number of healthcare institutions and healthcare professionals, both cross-borderly and domestically, through our "HCP supply platform," while at the same time promoting better matching.

For this reason, in terms of healthcare institutions to which we introduce healthcare professionals, we expand our operating countries in Europe, Oceania, the Middle East, Asia, and the U.S. (1), and increase the number of clients within these countries (2). In the same way, in terms of healthcare professionals, we increase the number of countries where we provide employment support (3) and increase the number of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals whom we support in their career development (4). Then, based on the circumstances of each country, job orders from healthcare institutions, and healthcare professionals' needs, we optimize matching between healthcare institutions and healthcare professionals on a global basis, both domestically within each country and internationally, and increase the volume of matching (5), thereby maximizing the value provided through the HCP supply platform.

- The future we are aiming for in the Global Career Business

Improving people’s lives

By realizing the mission of our Global Career Business, we will contribute to solving the social issue: "people not being able to enjoy high-quality medical care due to the shortage and uneven distribution of healthcare professionals around the world."

Through the HCP supply platform we provide, healthcare professionals can choose from among a variety of options, both domestically and internationally, to find better workplaces that meet their requirements. They also gain access to appropriate working conditions, working environments, and housing even at overseas locations. The expansion of career development opportunities around the world helps them build better careers as healthcare professionals.

Healthcare institutions can provide high-quality medical care services by hiring skilled staff members, both domestically and internationally, and having them work productively and with high motivation.

Through professionals who enjoy their work while improving their skills and developing careers and healthcare institutions supported by skilled staff members, patients as end users can enjoy high-quality medical care services and live with peace of mind even in the midst of ever-increasing medical care needs in terms of both quality and quantity due to aging and economic growth.

Healthcare professionals working in countries with higher levels of medical care go back to their home countries and provide quality medical care by applying their knowledge and skills. This global circulation of healthcare professionals will enhance the level of medical care in the world as a whole.

In this way, we will contribute to solving the shortage of healthcare professionals around the world, thereby improving people's quality of life.