The Roots of Our Value Creation Process

In 1960, Recruit Group was launched from a prefabricated unit located on the rooftop of the Mori II building in Nishi Shimbashi district of Tokyo. It all started with a new magazine business that was launched to bring together and address the needs of two specific groups: companies that are looking for people to recruit and students who are looking for jobs. The Group published a job-advertisement brochure, similar to a university newspaper, entitled "Invitation to Companies" which listed the positions each company was offering to new graduates that year, and helped students making their own decisions. This was one of the first steps towards creating an open and fair labor market in Japan. This concept of collecting useful information and using media to deliver it to society as a whole was the seed idea that Recruit Group has cultivated over the years. In this way the Group has developed new means to engage with companies and individuals, and offer new services that meet the needs of a changing society.
In the subsequent decades, the Company took the expertise it developed in opening up the market for HR media and staffing businesses, and leveraged this knowhow to different industries. For example, Recruit Group developed publications for housing, bridal, travel, dining and beauty. The Company contributed to the growth of these industries in the same way that it opened up the labor market, by providing a free flow of information that allows individuals to make informed selections from a broad range of options. More recently, Recruit Group has begun to expand and diversify services, such as providing operational support to small and mid-sized companies. Recruit Group also began to expand overseas at the turn of the century, and the international shift has accelerated to the point that overseas revenue now account for 46% of the consolidated total. The Group has developed staffing operations in the US, Europe and Australia through M&A activities since 2010, offering job opportunities all around the world. The HR Technology segment, meanwhile, has acquired companies such as Indeed in 2012 and Glassdoor in June 2018. As it develops these global brands, the segment continues to expand its capacity to provide services, support and opportunities to job seekers worldwide.
Throughout its history, Recruit Group has made it a priority to satisfy the needs of both individual users and corporate clients. Looking ahead, Recruit Group will aim to evolve its platforms for better matching between users and clients by maximizing the relationship with them, to create a brighter world where all individuals can live life to the fullest.

Development of the Ribbon Model and Value Creation for Society