As a company with sales, manufacturing and R&D bases in a number of different countries, Sony is promoting the localization of these operations by working to secure local human resources that best respond to national, regional and location-specific needs. Additionally, with the aim of securing talented human resources crucial to growing its global business, Sony recruits university graduates overseas to work in Japan.
Early in the 21st century, Sony expanded the scope of its efforts to recruit students to work in Japan, who were mainly from Europe and North America previously, and began to actively seek out promising university and post-graduate students in China and India. Recruiting in China began in earnest in 2001. As of April 2011, Sony had recruited a cumulative total of 246 university and post-graduate students in China. Recruitment from universities and graduate schools in India began in earnest in 2009. In both countries, recruitment efforts benefited from the cooperation of local Sony Group companies, which ensured that Sony secured top-level human resources. To encourage acclimatization, Sony provided new recruits with a variety of training, including Japanese language lessons, both before and after they began working in Japan.
Sony has also established a Global Internship Program, which welcomes university students from Europe, North America, China and India, among others. Having set a target for increasing the portion of new university graduates it recruits accounted for by non-Japanese nationals to 30% by fiscal year 2013, Sony is conducting recruiting presentations at universities, graduate schools and research facilities around the world, as well as for groups of overseas students studying in Japan.
