By Kozo Kiyota

The influence of multinational firms in Japanese trade.

Multinational firms directly employ nearly 40 percent of workers and have approximately 94 percent share of Japanese exports.

Disruption in the Job Market causes different reactions in different people. For most of us it makes us more conservative and we're happy to have a job at all. For employers it all but halts hiring, and for recruiters it spells hard times and lay-offs. Whatever the reaction, the result is job market stagnation and an indefinite postponement of career development plans.

Although receiving little media focus, the recruitment industry is facing one of its toughest times yet. What options are left for the struggling industry?